


Whatever Happened to Predictability?

by swanjones



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: A little bit of angst, AU, Baby Shoyo, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Inspired by Full House (US), Kid Tadashi, M/M, asahi is jesse, baby Yachi, dadchi, daichi is danny, kid Kei, kid tobio, like there is so much fluff, overwhelmingly fluffy, suga is joey, takes place in America, uncle asahi, uncle suga
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:54:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 39,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26691766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swanjones/pseuds/swanjones
Summary: When Daichi's life slowly begins to spiral into madness, he turns to his two best friends, Asahi and Sugawara to help him raise his sons.When Suga gets Daichi’s call, he drops everything for his best friend.
Relationships: Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 60
Kudos: 126





	1. Ain't No Mountain

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came to me in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, I hope you enjoy it. 
> 
> FYI: Chapter names are not directly related to chapters, but are rather song titles and lyrics that I feel encapsulate the emotions of each chapter.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> " If you need me, call me,
> 
> no matter where you are, 
> 
> no matter, how far. "

Daichi loosened his tie and leaned back onto the kitchen island. His throat was tight and his eyes were swollen from all the crying that had taken place that day. _This isn't fair... this isn't fair for the boys. For me._ He groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. The clock on the stove read 2:30am... there was no way he was going to be able to sleep through the night. He hadn't had a good night's rest in days. He opened the fridge and let the dim light cascade into the dark kitchen. As he rooted through the fridge, he began to ask himself what he was even looking for... he wasn't going to be able to keep any food down, he couldn't remember the last time he had eaten a full meal. He thought his rummaging was quiet, but when he heard footsteps coming up from the basement, he knew he must have been too loud.

"Daichi?" A tall figure whispered from the top of the staircase.

"Sorry, Asahi. Did I wake you up?" Daichi shut the fridge door. "You should get back to sleep, I don't want you to miss your flight tomorrow."

"Daichi." Asahi took a seat at the kitchen island. "I couldn't sleep." Daichi came around and sat next to him. "I don't think I'm going to go back. At least not now." Daichi's eyes widened. He turned to face Asahi.

"What do you mean? What about work?" Daichi was not expecting this kind of news at this hour of the night.

"I'm an artist, Daichi. I can work wherever I need to." Asahi smiled for a moment, but the expression quickly faded back into sadness. "I didn't get to spend enough time with her. I'm going to miss her so much." He hung his head, and began to cry. It was hard to tell who was in more pain at the moment. Daichi had lost his wife, but Asahi had lost his little sister. "I want to be here for the boys. They remind me of her... I owe it to her." He wiped his eyes and turned to Daichi, who had tears welling in his own eyes.

"You can live here. In the basement." Daichi stated. Asahi was taken aback. 

"I was going to get an apartm--" Asahi started.

"No. No negotiation. You should be here. I'm going to need your help." Daichi placed his hand on Asahi's shoulder and squeezed gently. Asahi leaned over and hugged his brother in law. They had hit their lowest points, but hopefully together, they could bring themselves back up.

* * *

Daichi woke up on the couch. He didn't even remember getting up from the kitchen, but the small blanket spread across his chest and the drool dried on the side of his mouth proved that he at least made a small effort to get to sleep. Sun beamed in from the curtained windows as Daichi stood up and rubbed his eyes. It was rather serene outside, and inside, so it must not have been too late in the morning. He shuffled into the kitchen, the clock reading 6:30. He would only have a little while longer until the boys would wake up. He brewed a pot of coffee, poured himself a cup, and waited for the kids to stir. Expectedly, the youngest was the first to wake. Daichi heard murmuring on the baby monitor, and promptly ascended the stairs to tend to his youngest son. His heart couldn't help but ache when he looked at his youngest son. Shoyo was never going to get to know his mother, at least not in the way his older brothers did. It didn't help that the baby was already a mirror image of his mother, sharing the same orange hair that she had. He picked up the baby from his crib, bouncing him around and cooing to him softly. The boy reached his little arms up in the direction of his father's face. Daichi leaned forward and kissed the baby on the forehead. 

After changing the baby's diaper and dressing him for the day, a small voice called out from the doorway. Daichi propped Shoyo on his hip, and turned to the source of the voice. His middle son, Tobio, stood a few steps into the doorway.

"Good morning, Tobio." Daichi said sweetly, as the boy sleepily walked over to his father. Without saying a word, Tobio stretched his arms up and tugged on his father's shirt. Daichi willingly obliged in picking up the boy, he was small enough that he could carry him and Shoyo at the same time. "Did you sleep well?" Daichi asked as he adjusted his sons on either side of him.

"No." Tobio said flatly, as he rested his cheek on his father's shoulder. "I had a bad dream." Daichi frowned and held his son a little closer. He had no idea how children dealt with grief, he had never had to figure that out before. 

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Daichi asked, turning his head slightly so that he could see the boy's face. 

"No." Tobio answered without looking up. Daichi didn't want to pry. Tobio was only five and a half years old, and he didn't want to force him into talking about something that might upset him. Instead, he carried the two boys down the stairs, holding onto each of them a little tighter than usual.

As the morning progressed, Tobio's grumpy demeanor slowly faded into a more normal, childish one. Daichi made the boys breakfast, watching as Shoyo made himself into a mess, smearing oatmeal all over his face and high chair, seemingly making no attempt to get the food into his mouth. Tobio couldn't help but follow suit when he saw his baby brother making such a mess, and Daichi was too late in noticing that he was also covering his face in the oatmeal. He sighed, wiping the boy's faces with a rag. Daichi cleaned the kitchen, keeping a panicked eye consistently turning back to make sure his sons weren't causing any more trouble. They seemed to be getting along well enough, both of them giggling cheerfully, the occasional comment from Tobio, resulting in a shriek or two from Shoyo. He smiled as he heard what he thought was the two boys playing innocently, but when he rounded the corner and saw the marker stains all over the floor, he realized they were doing more than just playing.

"Tobio!" Daichi groaned as he grabbed paper towels and a bottle of spray cleaner. He paused before scolding the boy again, worried that he would upset the boy who was presumably still upset from yesterday. So he didn't. He quietly cleaned the floor while Shoyo and Tobio watched. He didn't think the boys felt any ounce of remorse, as Shoyo was too young to think he had done anything wrong, and Tobio was just upset that his artwork was being erased. "Tobio." Daichi said calmly, crouching to be at eye level with his son, his hands resting on either of his shoulders. "Markers draw on paper. Nothing else. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Tobio answered. Daichi could tell that the mischievous smile on his face meant that although he knew that rule, he was bound to break it again. The kitchen was a mess. The sink was piled full of dishes, and the table covered in oatmeal, even though Daichi swore he had cleaned it all. In accordance with the mess in the kitchen, his sons were also a mess, now with markers on their hands and arms to go along with the oatmeal they had for breakfast. Daichi groaned as he hoisted the children back up onto his hips. 

He ran the bath water and placed his sons inside the tub. Tobio promptly began to splash his brother and his father, both recoiling at the soapy water. Daichi wiped the water from his face and Shoyo began to cry from the torment he was receiving from his brother. Daichi frowned and gently grabbed Tobio's hands, which were still flailing around in the water. He sternly glared at the boy, and the message finally came across to him, and he sat quietly in the tub, allowing his father to wash all of the oatmeal and colorful marker smears off of him.

Daichi wrapped the two boys in their towels respectively, playfully ruffling their hair underneath the fabric. Tobio giggled as he reached out and ruffled his father's hair in response. Daichi was sure that at least half of the day had passed since he awoke, but as he dressed Shoyo, and Tobio waited for them, the clock only read 10am. Daichi groaned, and then realized it was probably time to check on his oldest son. Asahi had finally awoken from his slumber, so Daichi deposited the two into his unexpecting arms.

"Don't lose them and don't let them get dirty, I just gave them a bath." Daichi turned back to the stairwell, going two at a time. Although he bounded down the hallway confidently, he stopped in his tracks at the door at the end of the hall. It was the shared room of Tobio, and his older brother Tadashi. He took a deep breath and gently knocked on the door, and it creaked open. Sitting on a long window seat across the room, was his oldest son. Although his back was to his father, Daichi could tell that he was still wearing the black clothing he had worn to his mother's funeral the day before. Daichi crossed and sat next to him. Tadashi didn't even seem to notice, or care that his father was now in his presence. His gaze remained locked on the window. Daichi placed a hand on the boy's back, and he watched as a tear rolled down his freckled cheek. Tadashi finally turned and threw himself onto his father, burying his face into his Daichi's chest. Daichi hushed and did his best to comfort his son, but deep down, he wanted to weep with him.

"I miss her, dad." Tadashi finally pulled his face away from Daichi's chest, leaving tear stains on his shirt. Daichi wiped the tears from the boys cheeks before lovingly pulling him back into an embrace.

"I miss her too." Tadashi was practically sitting on his lap now, and although the boy was ten years old, neither of them seemed to mind. Daichi gently rocked back and forth, the same way he did when he held Tadashi for the first time ten years ago. He was so proud of the boy his baby had become, but he was also so worried about how his mother dying would affect him. As much as Tadashi loved his father, he was a mama's boy through and through. The whole day yesterday, through the service and reception, Tadashi was stone faced, quietly shedding tears, and refusing the comfort of family members and other adults that were there. "We can do it though. We can be strong, can't we?" Daichi asked his son, as a form of encouragement, but he was asking himself as well. He wasn't sure if he could do it. The one thing that was pulling him through was his sons. Tadashi nodded at the question and buried his face back into his father's chest, and the two of them stayed in the serenity of the window seat for a little while longer.

The peace was interrupted by a screeching Tobio a few moments later. He came charging into the room, presumably to tell his father something, but when he saw the scene at the window seat, his demeanor changed as he threw himself onto his brother and father, to join the hug. Tadashi willingly loosened his arms to allow his little brother to squirm between him and his father. A few minutes after Tobio entered the room, a very exhausted looking Asahi appeared in the doorway. He was carrying Shoyo like a football under his arm. The panicked look on his face dissolved into relief when he saw Daichi and the two boys in the window. Daichi turned to his brother-in-law.

"Did you lose one?" He asked with a smile.

"Nope." Asahi readjusted Shoyo into a more appropriate grip, and smiled. "He's right there. We are a-okay." He joined them on the window seat, handing Shoyo to Daichi. Tobio crawled across his brother and into his uncle's lap. He stood up on Asahi's thigh and wrapped his arm around the man's broad shoulders. Daichi was exhausted, if he could have, he would have sat his entire life in the window sill, sleeping the days away with the gentle caress of sunlight lulling him to sleep. But he only had a number of days before having to return to work, and before sending the boys back to school. While Asahi would be able to stay at home, Daichi was a nurse that constantly was requested to work extra hours, and his shifts lasted longer than most. After seeing how difficult it was for Asahi to manage Shoyo and Tobio, he couldn't imagine him being able to do it when Daichi wasn't in the house. 

With three young boys in the house, most days were loud and boisterous. After Tadashi and Daichi's shared moment, he returned to his seemingly normal self, playing with his younger brothers, but not hesitating to instruct and gently boss them around as they played. Asahi was consumed in trying to organize getting his things moved over to Daichi's house, so he wasn't much help in cleaning the kitchen, or watching the boys. Daichi was dripping with sweat as he constantly ran back and forth between the living room and kitchen, going to the boys every time they made a noise louder than normal. 

By the time the sun had begun to set and the boys were getting ready for bed, his once clean kitchen had dissolved back into madness as a result of the dinner he had made a few hours ago. After putting Shoyo to bed, and tucking in Tobio and Tadashi, he rejoined Asahi at the kitchen island. Asahi's head was pressed on the countertop, and Daichi took a seat next to him.

"This is crazy." Asahi said without lifting his head from the table. "I finally figured out how to get all the stuff from my studio moved here... but holy shit Daichi. Those boys are a lot of work." Daichi laughed, and Asahi finally looked up. "Are we gonna be able to do this? Just the two of us?" The question resonated deep in Daichi's bones.

"I don't know who else would help." Daichi said. Not a single name came to mind, as hard as he tried to scrape the depths of his memory. He felt truly alone in this moment. Asahi pulled his phone from his pocket and began to read names from his contact list that might be able to help him and Daichi. For each name he produced, Daichi found one excuse or another for why the people wouldn't be able to help. Finally, nearing the end of the contact list, Asahi said a name, and as soon as the words exited his mouth, Daichi froze for a second. That's a name he hadn't heard since he left for college.... but when Asahi said it, everything came rushing back.

_Sugawara._

"Well?" Asahi asked at Daichi's lack of an answer. A short pause followed.

"I'll call him tomorrow."

* * *

Suga fell back into his chair, the screeches of children seeping through the classroom windows from the playground. He only had twenty five minutes to eat his lunch before he would soon be bombarded with first graders once again. As he reached for his water bottle, his phone screen lit up, and buzzed on the table in front of him. He groaned at the call at first, but once he read the caller ID, he almost choked on the water he had just sipped from the bottle. He swallowed the water in a panic and answered the phone.

"Daichi?" His hands were really sweaty all of a sudden.

"Is this Sugawara?" 

"Yes! Daichi!" He said again.

"Hey, Suga. It's been a while hasn't it." Suga paused at the comment. The last time he had seen Daichi was the summer after their senior year of high school. They were going to different schools, and although they fell out of touch, word travelled through the grapevine, and it wasn't long before Suga learned that Daichi was married before he even graduated from his university. It didn't surprise Suga at all... Daichi was a hopeless romantic, and a ladies man on top of that... all of this didn't stop Suga's heart rate from increasing as Daichi spoke to him on the other line.

"It's been too long," Suga sighed. "How have you been?" The line was silent for a moment.

"Do you want me to be honest?"

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Captain." 

"Not well. My wife passed away unexpectedly last week," Daichi explained. Suga felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach when he heard the sorrow in Daichi's voice.

"Daichi, I'm so sorry." He truly was. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Actually, that's why I called." The line went silent again. "You see, Asahi moved in, to help with the boys,"

"The boys?" Suga interrupted.

"Oh sorry, my sons." Daichi explained nonchalantly. If Suga had had water in his mouth, he would have choked again. _Sons? Plural? Damn, Daichi._ "Anyway, we are quickly realizing that they might be a little more to handle than to two of us can deal with, and I fully understand if you can't come, as I'm sure you have a job, and a family, but when we spoke of anyone who could come help us, the only person I could think of was you." Suga's mouth was wide open. Daichi was right about having a job, but along the lines of family and relationship, Suga's life was null and void. There was nothing keeping him where he was.

"I'll come." He said. He could hear Daichi drop his phone on the other end. He smiled.

"You will?" 

"I will." Suga was already packing up his things into his bag, when the recess bell rang. "Shit." _You're still at work Suga._ "Text me the details, I will be there as soon as possible, but for now I have to go. Bye, Daichi." He hung up as students began flooding back into his classroom. His untouched lunch was still spread across his desk. He wouldn't have been able to eat though. Though the circumstances were grim, he couldn't help but be excited to see his best friend again. _Ha, he asked you to move in with him. Lucky you._ Suga thought. His mind was far from focused on his work as the day progressed. Once the students left the classroom that afternoon, Suga packed his things and carried them to the doorway. He took a deep breath before turning and exiting the room. He had a feeling he wasn't going to be back there for a while. He walked with a spring in his step to the principal's office. He stepped into the office, and stood at the principal's desk.

"Hey, by the way, I quit." He said abruptly, getting ready to leave.

"Excuse me?" The principal asked, rage visibly rising in him.

"I quit. I won't be back. I have somewhere else to be." Suga left before he could say anything else to him. He didn't once turn back.

He had better places to be, and he couldn't wait to get there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell


	2. Tongue Tied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> " Take me to your best friend's house,
> 
> I loved you then, and I love you now. "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy :)

Sugawara overestimated how long it would take him to pack up his apartment, but by the end of the day, he had all of his things boxed and bagged up in his car. He was eager to get on the road, as he had a few hours of a commute to get to Daichi's house, but he was more than ready to see his best friends again. As he drove down the interstate, he couldn't help but reminisce on the last times he had spent with Asahi and Daichi. They all played on the same volleyball team in high school, and the bonds they formed were unlike any other. Obviously, considering Suga hadn't spoken to either of them in over ten years, and he up and quit his job and packed up his whole life on a whim to help them in their time of need. Suga gripped the steering wheel tighter. The closer he got to his destination, the more his excitement faded into anxiety.

Maybe there was a reason they had fallen out of touch.... Suga should have made more attempts to stay in contact with him... The last half hour of his drive was ridden with terrible thoughts of all the different ways their reunion could occur. His phone gave directions until finally he reached his destination. The house was large, but it looked welcoming. As Suga climbed the front porch stairs, he was a nervous wreck. He had no idea what to expect on the other side of the door. He stood on the front porch , his finger hovering just above the doorbell. With a deep breath, and much deliberation, he finally pressed the doorbell. He was relieved when a familiar face opened the door. Suga had stayed in better contact with Asahi than he had with Daichi, but it had still been a long while since the two had seen each other. Asahi hadn't changed much in that time... he was a little taller, and a little broader, but his kind eyes and gentle smile hadn't changed a bit. As soon as Asahi saw who was at the door, his face lit up.

"Suga!" He cried, as he stretched his arms and wrapped his old friend into a loving hug. His tight embrace was a calming presence. "You're earlier than we thought you'd be!" Asahi said. Suga could hear children screeching behind Asahi, just beyond the door.

"Yeah... I--uh..." Suga coughed. "I quit my job."

At first Asahi was shocked, but the more he thought about it, he remembered that Suga was always the type to make rash decisions like this. He knew that Suga's heart was always in the right place though. "Well, you're just in time. Daichi is in the shower and the boys are wreaking havoc." He ushered Suga in the door. "Welcome home." He said. The words sent a small chill down Suga's back. Before Suga got the chance to truly take in his surroundings, there was a loud thud followed by some cries in the other room.

"ASAHIIIII!" A voice cried. "Tobio!!! I told you not to do that!!"

"Crap!" Asahi ran in the direction of the cries, and Suga tentatively followed him. Through a door, into the kitchen, a small boy sat on the floor, a chair tipped over next to him, and standing above the boy was an older child who was casting a disapproving gaze down at the teary-eyed boy on the floor. A few feet away from the commotion, a fiery haired baby sat on a small play mat, rather disinterested in what his brothers were doing.

"Tobio!!! Tadashi and I told you to stop rocking the chair back and forth!" Asahi picked up the still-crying boy and turned to Sugawara. He let out an exhausted chuckled. "Well, these are the boys!" He wiped a few tears from Tobio's cheers before the boy grabbed the sleeve of his uncle's t-shirt and wiped his runny nose on it. Asahi sighed. "This is Tobio." Suga offered a gentle wave and Tobio waved back.

"Hi, Tobio!" It's nice to meet you!" Suga said sweetly. He was right in his element... he dealt with five year olds on a daily basis. 

"Who are you?" The boy asked as he stared at Suga. Asahi laughed at Tobio's bluntness.

"My name is Suga. I'm good friends with your dad and Asahi. I'm gonna be here helping out for a while." Suga held out his hand for the boy to shake. Five year olds loved shaking adults' hands... it made them feel like adults in return. Tobio was no exception to this. As soon as he realized what Suga's outstretched hand was for, he shook it giddily, a cheesy smile creeping across his face. While this took place, the older boy had inched over.

"You must be Tadashi." Suga said, as he held his hand out for the older one to shake. Tadashi was less excited to shake Suga's hand than Tobio was, but he still shook it. Rather than verbally acknowledge Suga, he nodded timidly. Suga crouched to be at eye level with the boy. He seemed to be more mature than most kids his age. "I'm sorry to hear about your mom. If you ever want to talk to me, I will always be there to talk to." Suga smiled, and Tadashi just sort of stared back in his general direction. Suga squeezed his shoulder and stood back up next to Asahi. He turned to speak, but before he could get any words out, Tadashi had his arms wrapped around his waist, and he was hugging him tightly. Suga wrapped his arms around the boy, and shot a confused glance at Asahi who was just as lost as he was.

"Thank you for coming to help my Dad." Tadashi said, his voice slightly muffled by the fabric of Suga's shirt. Suga placed a hand on his head and patted gently. Tadashi released him from the hug finally, and Suga made his way across the kitchen to meet the youngest of Daichi's sons.

He scooped Shoyo up off the floor, like a pro, knowing exactly how to carry and hold him. The baby was thrilled at the attention, and he reached his hands out in the direction of Suga's face.

"You must be Shoyo!" Suga said, as he scrunched his nose while Shoyo grasped at his face. Suga stood with the baby for a few moments until he heard footsteps approaching behind him. He expected to see Asahi when he turned around, but as he spun on his heels, Daichi stood in front of him. He was still slightly wet from his shower, and he had a towel draped over his shoulders. Both men seemed rather surprised to see the other.

"Suga!" Daichi said finally. He hesitated at first, but eventually he spread his arms, welcoming his old best friend into a hug. Suga did his best to hug him while still holding Shoyo on his hip.

"Hey, Daichi!" Suga said. "Just gettin' introduced to everyone. You've got some cute kids, Daichi." Daichi smiled and took Shoyo from Suga. 

"Thank you." He smiled. "And thank you for coming. I can't imagine what you had to drop to come help."

"Oh it was no big deal. After I quit my job, there was nothing keeping me home, so I packed up and left." Daichi's reaction was similar to Asahi's when he heard this news for the first time.

"Suga, you didn't have to do that! You could have just said no!" Daichi said, his expression growing twisted.

"Daichi. It's okay. I wanted to be here. For you and Asahi. And for these adorable kids." His voice descended into baby talk with the last bit as he leaned forward and gently pinched at Shoyo's cheeks. Daichi's frown dissolved into a smile when he saw how well Shoyo was getting along with Suga already. He knew he had asked the right person to come help with the boys.

"Well, I am very glad that you're here." Daichi said with a sigh. "It's been far too long." Suga smiled before looking back at his friend.

"I know." 

* * *

The remainder of the day was spent helping Suga move into his bedroom, which was one door down from Shoyo's nursery. Suga got acclimated rather quickly, and he was already getting along with the boys as if he had known them for years. He was able to blend into the flow of their routines rather effortlessly (although their routines were rather pitiful and hard to follow at some points.... he was going to have to help them get more organized). Daichi offered to make dinner, but Suga treated the family to pizza instead, as a thank you for the help they gave him today. Daichi watched at the dinner table how much his sons already liked his old friend. He wasn't really surprised though, it was hard to not like Sugawara, and there was definitely something wrong with anyone who didn't.

Suga cleaned off the table, tossing the paper plates and napkins into the trash as Daichi took the boys upstairs to get them ready for bed.

"Good night, Suga!" Tadashi called from the stairs.

"G'nite!" Tobio cried.

"Good night boys! I'll see you in the morning!" Suga called out to them.

"You're a natural at this." Asahi said from the kitchen island. It was apparent from Asahi's tiredness that he was very much _not_ a natural at dealing with children.

"I've always had a way with kids." Suga said as he wiped down the counters with a rag. "And I do basically have a college degree in child-wrangling." The two shared a laugh and bantered for a few minutes. As the conversation grew quiet, Asahi blurted something out.

"Daichi is really glad you're here. He's been really out of it, today was the happiest I've seen him in a while." Luckily Suga's back was facing Asahi, or else the massive amounts of blush on his cheeks would have given away the fact that Suga totally had a crush on Daichi. Plain and simple, since the very first day he met Daichi in seventh grade, he knew he was in love with him. _Now is not the time to think about this Suga._

"I'm really glad to be here too. If I'm being honest, I was in a really bad headspace before coming. I was just going through the motions everyday... I was super lonely. I was practically begging something to happen, and then poof, I got Daichi's call." Suga dried his hand on a towel before turning back to Asahi. He reached out and placed his hand on Asahi's arm. "I'm really sorry about what happened to your sister... I can't even imagine what you're going through." Asahi blinked slowly and sighed.

"Thank you, Suga." He offered a weak smile. "It's hard. But we're getting through it." As Asahi said that, Daichi descended the stairs, his hair slightly tousled. The men laughed at his messy appearance. 

"Tobio did not want to go to bed." He said flatly. Suga giggled.

"I'm gonna head off to bed." Asahi said as he left the kitchen, allowing Daichi and Suga some time to catch up alone. It took a few minutes before anyone said anything.

"You're a teacher?" Daichi finally asked. Suga scoffed.

"Not anymore..." He smiled. "But yes. I loved it." Daichi sighed. "What about you?"

"A nurse. I was going to go to med school to become a doctor, but then Tadashi was born and I didn't have the time or money so I had to stop with just nursing." Daichi scratched his face which was lightly covered with stubble. Suga cautiously eyed him. Daichi had changed more than Asahi had since their senior year, his kind eyes had grown tired looking, and his features were much more defined than they used to be... but deep down he was the same person he was then.

"You could always go back to school." Suga tried to offer some consolation.

"I know. I'm not sure I want to... I like nursing. The only bad part is the hours, I wish I could just spend more time with the boys." Daichi turned to Suga and smiled. _Cute._ Suga thought. _Stop, Suga. Literally, stop._ "You stayed single?" Daichi asked. Suga choked on the can of coke he was sipping on.

"Uh-- yeah." _I didn't want to be with anyone but you, Daichi._ "Looks to me like you've done enough homemaking for the two of us." He joked. Daichi laughed. They sat at that kitchen island for a few hours, catching up on lost time. Suga was furious with himself for not keeping in touch better than he did. But all that mattered is that he was here now.

"I'm going to head to sleep." Daichi said, standing up from the table. "Good night."

"Good night." Suga watched as Daichi turned and walked away from him. When he was gone from the kitchen, Suga pressed his forehead onto the counter. _Now is not the time to tell him that you've been in love with him for all these years Suga, that would be so insensitive and selfish of you._ A huge sigh escaped his lips. He wasn't sure when the time to tell him was going to come, but after spending the day with Daichi and his sons, he knew that he would wait as long as he had to until he was able to tell Daichi how he truly felt. How he's always felt. For Daichi, he would wait forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tongue Tied - Grouplove


	3. I Will Wait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> " Well I came home, like a stone,
> 
> and I fell heavy into your arms...
> 
> and I will wait, I will wait for you. "

Daichi had been dreading the day he had to return to work, but after almost three weeks off, he finally had to go back. Before Suga moved in, he considered not going back at all, and trying to find a new, less demanding job, but he felt more confident in going back to work now that Asahi would have some help with the boys at home until they went back to school.

"Dad! Suga said he was going to take us back to school shopping today!" Tadashi cheered as his father entered the kitchen. Suga smiled and handed Daichi a mug of the coffee he had just brewed. Daichi smiled back and graciously accepted the mug.

"I'm gonna get a pencil!" Tobio cried. Daichi laughed as he planted a kiss on the top of Tobio's head. He didn't quite understand back to school shopping, but at least he had the spirit. 

"Are you sure you're okay taking both of them to the store?" Daichi asked. His sons were well behaved a good 95% percent of the time, but in that other 5%, they could be rather difficult to handle. Suga looked over at the boys sitting at the table. Tobio was trying to take something off of Tadashi's plate while Tadashi cried out in refusal. Shoyo sat in his high chair a few feet away, laughing at his brothers' antics. Suga sighed.

"I can handle it." He answered confidently.

Asahi emerged from the basement. He wore a small pair of glasses and his long hair was pulled back into a bun. He had a measuring tape draped around his neck and a few safety pins attached to the collar of his shirt.

"And you're okay with watching Shoyo today?" Daichi asked him. He was probably going overboard with preparations, but he was so incredibly nervous about leaving the boys today that he couldn't help it.

"As long as he doesn't mind watching me make an evening gown, then we should be fine." Asahi smiled at the baby who squealed back. Daichi was feeling more and more at ease with his situation today. 

He left the kitchen to put on his scrubs. It had been so long since he'd worn them that they felt rather foreign on his body. He descended the stairs once again. As Suga caught a glimpse of him in his scrubs, he had to promptly turn around, to ensure he didn't stare. One thing about Daichi that had changed for the better since high school? His thighs. _Wow... they were spectacular then but now.... wow... Suga, you need to shut up._ Suga stole a few glances at the way Daichi's muscles stretched the fabric of the scrubs. _Shit._ Suga thought. _He is so pretty._

Daichi kissed his sons goodbye, each of them reacting differently. Tadashi recoiled at the smooch that was planted on the top of his head, but Tobio lovingly accepted it. Shoyo was just happy to be near his dad. 

"One for me too?" Suga joked. _That was really weird, Suga. Why did you say that? He is not going to think that was funny... Shit._ Daichi laughed at the comment, and Suga released a deep breath and let out a forced laugh. Daichi turned to leave when a small voice called out behind him in protest.

"Give him a kiss, Daddy." Tobio demanded. "He asked nicely." Suga's eyes grew wide and he met Daichi's gaze. Daichi seemed just as embarrassed at his son's comment.

"It's okay, Tobio, Suga was just joking." Daichi said awkwardly. Tobio frowned, not understanding that Suga was joking, and still firmly believing that he deserved a kiss. Suga's face was beet red at the interaction. "I'm heading out." Daichi said goodbye once more, and left the kitchen. Tobio hopped off of his chair and watched his dad pull out of the drive way and drive off down the street. When he turned back around, Suga could see that he had tears streaming down his cheeks. Suga hurried around the side of the kitchen island and crouched at the boy's side. He dealt with this all the time in the classroom, when parents would drop their children off of the first day of school and before they even left the room, the children would be a sobbing mess. He patted Tobio's back as he cried out for his dad. It made sense that he was reacting that way... he knew he was coming back, but this was the first time his dad had left him since his mom died. Suga wrapped his arms around the boy and gave him a little squeeze.

"Do you still want to go get some pencils today?" Tobio sniffed and looked up at Suga's face. He nodded, his face covered in tears and his nose runny. Suga grabbed a tissue and wiped his tears and let him blow his nose. "You ready to head out Tadashi? Maybe we can even get some ice cream while we're out?" Tadashi leapt out of his chair at the mention of ice cream, and Tobio's demeanor instantly changed. Tadashi helped Suga set up Tobio's booster seat in the back of the car, and he buckled him in. 

"Do you both have your lists?" Suga asked. The boys waved their papers around as a response, eager to buy supplies for the new school year.

"Suga, how did you meet my dad and Uncle Asahi?" Tadashi asked as they drove down the road. Suga sighed and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

"I met your dad in middle school. Seventh grade, I think." Suga answered as he deployed his blinker. He didn't really want to tell Tadashi that he remembered the exact day he had first met Daichi.... he figured that might be a little weird. "We met your uncle when we got to high school. We played volleyball together."

"I want to play volleyball. Will you teach me?" Tadashi asked. Suga's heart soared at the question. 

"I would love to! Your dad and Asahi can help too! Do you have a ball?" Suga asked the boy.

"No... well we might have one somewhere, but we moved into our house earlier in the summer, so if we do, it's probably in a box somewhere." Suga frowned. _I wonder why Daichi has never played volleyball with him before._

"We can pick up a ball while we're out today." Suga glanced up in the rear view mirror to see Tadashi's beaming face in the back seat. He was such a sweet boy.

Once they actually made it to the store, it wasn't too difficult to keep the boys under control. Tobio was content with sitting in the shopping cart, and Tadashi was responsible enough to not wander off unless Suga told him to go and grab something. Tobio tried to grab things he didn't need a few times, but to Suga's surprise, upon explanation, he willingly put the things back. Suga was expecting some sort of tantrum, or disobedience, but Tobio was practically an angel after he asked him to behave. Suga felt proud of his ability to wrangle the boys, and he laughed thinking about how Daichi was so adamant on them being so difficult to deal with. They walked up and down the aisles, grabbing pens, and colored pencils, and all of the different notebooks they might need for school. Tadashi walked alongside the cart with Suga, checking off items on the list, while Tobio contently rode along in the cart, reorganizing all of the things they placed in the cart. 

They made their way back to the section with the toys and bikes and sport supplies. Tobio had been relatively well mannered up until now, but when he saw all the toys, he started to get kind of antsy, leaning just far enough out of the cart to where he could grab and knock things off of the shelf. 

"Tobio." Suga said sternly as the boy grasped for an action figure on the shelf. "We are not here to buy toys today." With those 8 words, Tobio melted. He descended from a calm, mild-mannered kid into a full blown devil of a temper tantrum. There were tears, and screams, and people stared as they passed by. Tadashi put his hands over his ears to drown out his brother's cries as Suga tried in a panic to get him to stop crying. "Tobio, it's okay, do you want to come look at the volleyball's with Tadashi and I?" The stares they had been receiving were gradually turning into dirty looks.

"Volleyballs?" Tobio stopped crying for long enough to ask. 

"C'mon, let's go look." Suga hoisted the five year old out of the cart. "Tadashi, can you push the cart please?" Tadashi jumped at the opportunity to push the cart.

"Really? Dad never lets me push because he said I hit his ankles when I push." Tadashi smiled. Suga made sure to walk beside the cart instead of in front of it as he carried Tobio to the sports section. He showed Tadashi all of the balls that would be good for him to start with, and he let him pick out a color that he would like. He held Tobio close enough to the shelves so that he could touch the volleyballs. 

"Want to get a pair of kneepads too?" Suga asked.

"Kneepads?" 

"Sure! If we get you into a real volleyball club or even some camps you'll need knee pads." Suga grabbed a pair off of a hook on the wall and handed them to Tadashi. He looked overwhelmed, but excited at the same time. "You ready to get home?" The boys nodded eagerly, and once they had left the toy section, Suga deposited Tobio back into the cart. He wasn't super heavy to carry, but he pulled on Suga's hair the entire time he was holding him.

The car ride home was full of giggles and conversation, and even squeals of joy when Suga pulled into the Dairy Queen drive thru.

"Why don't you pick something out for Asahi and your dad too? We can put it in the freezer for when he gets off of work." Suga said, pulling up to the speaker.

* * *

It took Suga awhile to wipe all the chocolate off of Tobio's face when they got home, but once he was clean, he laid out their school supplies on the kitchen table, and began to label them. Tadashi was able to label his own, but Tobio sat and watched as Sugawara neatly printed his name on all of his folders, and his crayon box. Once everything had been labelled, they loaded their goodies into the back packs they had picked out, Tobio's was Paw Patrol, and Tadashi's was Minecraft. The rest of the day was rather laid back as they waited for Daichi to return from work. Asahi finished his project sooner than he thought, so he was able to join Suga and the boys upstairs, and the five of them spent all afternoon together. It wasn't until dinner time, with no word from Daichi that they realized he was probably going to be at work late that night. As Tobio grew sleepier, he became more clingy and started to ask for hugs and back pats from Asahi and Suga. He crawled onto Asahi's lap in the middle of dinner, and just rested his head on his shoulder. He was probably tired, and missing his dad.

As soon as they finished eating, Asahi took Tobio up to his room and tucked him into bed. He was asleep almost instantaneously. Back in the kitchen, Tadashi helped Suga wash dishes, while Shoyo sat in his high chair watching.

"Do you like it here?" Tadashi asked as he grabbed a plate from Suga to dry. Suga didn't answer right away, as he was taken aback by the abruptness of the question. "You've been here for almost two weeks now... are you going to stay?"

"Of course I'm gonna stay, Tadashi." Suga said. "I still have to teach you how to play volleyball don't I? Someone's gotta do it." He said as he nudged Tadashi with his elbow. The boy giggled. They finished washing and drying the dishes together, occasionally flicking the other with the dish water. By the time they were done, Suga's shirt was practically soaked, and Tadashi was ready to fall asleep. 

"G'nite, Suga!" Tadashi called as he ran up the stairs to get ready for bed. Asahi came in from the living room, with a worried look on his face.

"Do you know how to put Shoyo to bed?" He asked. Suga laughed.

"Dude, he's your nephew. Do you really not know how?" Asahi didn't answer, but rather hung his head in shame. Suga laughed again as he picked Shoyo up out of the high chair. "C'mon. I'll show you." Suga led Asahi into Shoyo's room and walked him through all the steps of putting the baby to bed. Asahi watched attentively, making mental notes of everything Suga was doing. He finished by placing the now almost sleeping Shoyo into his crib. The men tiptoed out of the room, closing the door as quietly as humanly possible. "You can head to bed. I'll stay up for a while in case he wakes up." Asahi smiled and willingly obliged... the man was exhausted after watching Shoyo all day long. 

* * *

Suga fell back onto the couch. He didn't show it as much as Asahi did, but he was exhausted too. He was used to working with a classroom of kids, but being with Tobio, Tadashi and Shoyo felt so different compared to that. He leaned his head back onto the couch, and he must have dozed off, because the next thing he knew, Daichi was creeping in the front door. Suga's head shot up off of the couch when he heard the movement.

"Sorry. I was trying not to wake you." Daichi said as untied his shoes.

"You're fine. I need to go to my actual bed anyway." Suga stretched his arms above his head and yawned. Before he was able to get up, Daichi sat down on the couch next to him. He leaned back into the couch, and sighed. "How was work?" Daichi groaned.

"Busy." He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "At least I'm off until tomorrow evening." He yawned. The two sat in the couch in silence for a while, until all of a sudden, Daichi's head was resting on Suga's lap. Suga's eyes were wide, and he began to internally panic, until he realized that Daichi had fallen asleep... he didn't even realize what he was doing. There was absolutely no way Suga was going to let this moment go to waste though. So he sat there, with Daichi for almost an hour, his hand rested gently on his best friend's shoulder, as he slept peacefully for a while.

The peaceful sleep Daichi was in was suddenly interrupted, when all of a sudden his shoulders began to shake. Suga watched as all of a sudden his expression grew pained and twisted. Suga's heart wrenched as he watched the man cry in his sleep. Suga took a deep breath and gently stroked Daichi's shoulder with his hand. He hushed, and whispered, doing his best to comfort Daichi, until eventually, he fell back into a more stable sleep. Suga didn't want to risk waking him up again, so he did his best to make himself as comfortable as possible, and he fell asleep there on the couch, with Daichi still resting on his lap. 

When the sun poured in through the curtains the next morning, the two of them were still on the couch, Suga's legs numb from the weight of Daichi's torso being on them all night. Suga inched just enough to wake Daichi up, but he pretended to remain asleep once Daichi finally woke up. He figured he would be embarrassed for making it so that Suga couldn't get up from the couch last night though. Suga watched Daichi tip toe out of the living room through almost shut eyes. He smiled to himself... he was sure Daichi would be fumbling over himself in apologies later for what he had done that night. The only thing though? Suga didn't mind at all...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what are we thinking so far?
> 
> probably going to meet someone new soon ;)
> 
> I Will Wait - Mumford and Sons


	4. Best Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> " I'll be your biggest fan, and you'll be mine,
> 
> but I still wanna break your heart, and make you cry. "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SO SO sorry for waiting so long to update this! I finished my first semester of college though and will be off for a few weeks and I am hoping to get more chapters out!! I hope you enjoy chapter 4!

“Tadashi! Are you ready for school?” 

Tadashi stood in front of the mirror in his room, ensuring that he looked as good as possible for the third, maybe fourth time. He scrubbed his hands across his face, trying as he did most days to will the freckles off of his cheeks. When he removed his hands, his face was still speckled, and he sighed in defeat. He tried to smooth down his relentless cowlick atop his head, but it still remained, as perky as ever. Once he had given up on changing his appearance, he slipped his backpack onto his shoulders. It wasn’t too heavy, as he only had a few notebooks and other supplies in it, but somehow as he slipped it on, the reality that he was actually having to go to a new school today became much heavier. Regardless of the impending doom it reminded him of, he thought it was the coolest backpack he had ever seen, the front of it covered in holographic creepers from Minecraft with small keychains on each of the zippers of items from the game. It came with a matching lunchbox that looked like a grass block, that he was sure would be waiting on the kitchen table for him when he went downstairs. When Suga had seen how excited he got when he saw it at the store, he simply couldn’t say no. 

Tadashi hopped down the stairs, trying hard to decipher if the butterflies in his stomach were caused by anxiety, excitement, or a combination of the two. When he entered the kitchen, he found a very upset looking Tobio, surrounded by Suga, Asahi, and Daichi, who all were panickingly trying to calm him down. Tadashi groaned. His little brothers were such a pain…. Couldn’t they be a little less annoying for once?

“Tobio, it’s okay! Maybe you can make new friends at school!” Daichi said, wiping the tears off of his son's cheeks. It didn’t do much, as they were quickly replaced by a newer fresher set of tears. Tadashi peered around the commotion. Tobio must have been crying for a while, as his eyes were red and swollen and his nose was running. He rolled his eyes.

“Tobio, don’t you want to use all the cool new pencils we bought at the store! What about your Paw Patrol backpack? You can’t use it if you stay home!” Suga squeezed Daichi’s shoulder reassuringly when he saw how upset he was getting over Tobio’s tantrum. Suga fished a pencil out of Tobio’s bag and offered it to the screaming boy, only for him to swat it away with an angry hand. 

“Tadashi is going to school, Tobio.” Asahi motioned to the oldest brother who was now perched on one of the kitchen barstools, eating a poptart and doing his best to drown out his little brother’s incessant crying. “Don’t you want to be big and brave like your big brother?” 

“I don’t care what Tadashi does.” Tobio spat. The men groaned, finding no ways to convince this child to go to school.

“Tobio, if you go, we can get ice cream after,  _ and  _ you can play volleyball with Tadashi and I tonight.” Suga finally caved, with mild success too, as Tobio perked up at the offer.

“R-really?” He wiped his runny nose. “Will you put up the net in the yard?” The tears had slowed at the mention of the sport. 

“Yes. But only if you stop crying and behave all day at school. I’m a teacher, so I know all other teachers, and I can talk to yours and find out if you were a good boy.” Suga fibbed. Tobio instanted sat up straight in his chair, his tears almost immediately disappearing.

“Okay.” Tobio’s demeanor instantly calmed. Daichi looked like he was ready to pass out from exhaustion, Asahi looked like he was ready to pass out from stress, and Suga looked like he had just conquered the biggest obstacle in the world; He was proud.

“We need to go to the bus stop.” Tadashi hopped down from the stool, interrupting the moment that was occurring in front of him. “I don’t want to be late on the first day.” Tadashi was doing a good job at playing the unbothered big-brother in this situation, but deep down, he was so nervous for the first day of school. His family had only moved into their new house in their new neighborhood after school had ended earlier this summer, so he would be starting completely anew today. He tried to hide his anxiety from his dad, and he honestly thought he wasn’t doing a good job at it, but Tobio did the honors of distracting their father from Tadashi’s issues… Tadashi was still deciding if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Upon Tadashi’s mention of tardiness, the three men sprung into action, helping Tobio get his shoes on and wiping the rest of the tears from his face. Tadashi understood why they were paying more attention to Tobio, he was starting real school for the first time… that didn’t change the fact that Tadashi wished they would pay a little more attention to him and his nervousness. The chaotic bunch left the house, moving towards the bus stop. Asahi held Shoyo against his chest, Daichi had hoisted Tobio up onto his hip to help them walk faster, and Suga and Tadashi trailed behind them.

“Are you okay?” Suga asked Tadashi as they walked briskly down the sidewalk. “It’s okay if you’re not.” Tadashi looked up at Suga, the man’s kind face beaming down at him.

“I’m nervous.” Tadashi wrung his hands together. They walked in tandem down the sidewalk as the gap between the other members of the group grew larger. “Like really nervous... I don’t think I’ll make any friends.” Tadashi did not want to cry, but as those words left his mouth, he felt a tear roll down his cheek. Suga braced the boy’s shoulder, stopping him there on the sidewalk,

“Tadashi,” Suga squeezed his shoulder. “You are wonderful. Just be yourself, and you will make good friends, I have no doubt about it. It’s okay to be nervous, just remember to take deep breaths. Sometimes it helps me to count them out, breath in for 5 seconds and then out for 5 seconds.” 

Suga’s heart wrenched as he stood there with Tadashi. He felt a strange connection to him, like he was a younger version of himself, almost like he was his own son.

“You know, I was only a little older than you are now when I met your dad in middle school.” Suga said, in an attempt to ease Tadashi’s nerves.

“Really?” He asked, his mood lifting.

“Yup. Met him on the bus after the first day of seventh grade.” Suga smiled at the memory that was still so fresh and fond in his memory. “I was the last one on the bus, and he had an open seat next to him, and the rest is history.”

“It’s not that easy to make friends.” Tadashi said, sounding discouraged.

“Sure it is! That was like a million years ago and I still put up with your dad and he still puts up with me.” Suga rested his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “If you’re meant to be friends with a person, then it will happen eventually. It really is that simple.” Suga winced, realizing how cheesy the words sounded as they left his mouth, but Tadashi seemed encouraged by the campy rhetoric. Tadashi reached out and wrapped his arms around Suga.

Daichi and Asahi finally realized they had lost Tadashi and Suga a few yards back. They turned to see Suga with his arms wrapped around the boy, Tadashi’s face pressed into Suga’s shoulder. The hug between Tadashi and Sugawara disengaged, and there was a smile spread across the boy’s cheeks. He scurried forward toward his dad and tugged at his little brother, and Daichi lowered Tobio onto the ground and the two of them started to walk hand in hand to the bus stop, Asahi following behind them closely, still holding Shoyo tight against his chest. Daichi paused until Suga caught up with him.

“Is he okay?” Daichi said, seemingly exhausted from wrangling Tobio all morning. 

“He will be. At least I think so.” Suga said with a smile, as he watched Tadashi and Tobio skip/walk down the sidewalk.

“Thank you.” Daichi said graciously, as Suga just shook his head in response. He didn’t need to be thanked. He was more than happy to be doing what he was doing. He hadn’t known Daichi’s sons for very long, but there was no doubt in his mind that he would do anything for the three of them… and their father. 

At the bus stop, there were a few children standing waiting for the school bus to arrive. Two immediately caught the eyes of the Sawamura clan, as they were enormously tall, the one looking like a high schooler and the other looking like a middle schooler. It wasn’t until they got closer and saw their faces that they realized these boys were in fact tall, but they were younger than they seemed. At the sight of his peers, Tadashi tensed up again. That was, until he saw the shorter boy’s backpack. Strapped to his back, was the same Minecraft backpack Tadashi was wearing. It looked like it fit the other boy a little better, as Tadashi’s frame was still a little too small for the bag.

Suga noticed the bags too, and urged Tadashi to talk to the boy. Tadashi inched up to the boy at the bus stop.

“I- I like your bag. I have the same one.” Tadashi said sheepishly, never once lifting his eyes from the ground. Before the boy he was speaking to could answer, the older, taller one chimed in.

“You like Minecraft? My little brother Kei loves Minecraft, don’t you Kei?” He said wrapping his arm around his brother. The stone-faced Kei simply pushed his glasses further up on his nose and nodded at the statement. The older boy looked up at the large family behind Tadashi. “I’ve never seen you guys before, are you new here?” He said curiously, but kindly. Daichi noticed the questioning was causing Tadashi to grow more nervous, so he stepped in to answer the boy’s question.

“We moved in down the street over the summer. This is the boy’s first day here.” Daichi explained to the boy whose mouth gaped at his words.

“No way! I think you’re our neighbors!” The boy said. “I’m Akiteru Tsukishima, I live down the block on Maple, in the house with a swimming pool behind it.” 

“It sounds like you’re right, we live a few doors down from a house with a swimming pool. Did you hear that Tadashi? These boys are our neighbors.” Tadashi’s eyes were glued to the ground again.

“I’m going into eighth grade, and Kei is going into fifth. What about you guys?” Akiteru was loud and friendly, and it seemed that Kei very greatly contrasted that. Suga chimed in to answer.

“Tadashi is going into fifth grade too! Maybe you boys will be in the same class!” Suga grasped onto Tadashi’s shoulder. “Tobio is going to his first day of kindergarten.” He motioned to the young boy who was clinging to Daichi’s pant leg. 

They stood and talked to the Tsukishima boys for a little while longer, until the large yellow school bus came into view a few blocks away. Tobio reached up for Daichi’s hand when he saw the vehicle, squeezing tightly. Tadashi was just as nervous as his little brother, he wasn’t sure if he was going to puke or pass out, or both, but he did not want to get on that school bus.

The bus finally came to a screeching halt in front of them, and the other children at the bus stop began to pile on. Tobio, who was trying to climb up Daichi’s leg, began to cry again, sending another wave of anxiety into Tadashi, who was frozen in place there on the sidewalk. 

He watched as Kei began to climb the stairs to the bus. He turned back slightly when he realized Tadashi wasn’t following him.

“You can sit with me if you want.” Kei said, seemingly void of emotion yet somehow rather warm in his offer. He didn’t wait for Tadashi to answer, but rather turned back to the stairs. Tadashi turned to Suga, and gave him a gentle wave.

“Bye Dad. Bye Asahi. Bye Suga. Love you!” He followed the blonde boy onto the bus. 

As Daichi attempted to coerce Tobio into a seat on the bus, Suga watched as Tadashi and Kei found and sat together in a seat. And, to Suga’s surprise, they seemed to be involved in a conversation. Suga knew Tadashi could find a friend, he just didn’t realize it would be so soon.

“Tobio, please. Remember what Suga said.” Tobio straightened at his father’s words, but he still clung tightly onto Daichi’s hand. With an exasperated sigh, Daichi walked onto the bus, practically dragging Tobio alongside him. Asahi and Suga watched from the sidewalk as Daichi exchanged condolences to the bus driver before squeezing down the aisle and placing Tobio in the seat next to Tadashi and Kei. Even through the window, Suga could see the beet red blaze of embarrassment that had spread across Tadashi’s cheeks. Daichi stomped off of the bus to join his friends on the sidewalk. He ran his hands through his hair before plastering a forced smile on his face, waving at his sons through the bus window. 

On the bus, Tobio clung onto Tadashi’s hand with as much grip strength as a five year old could muster, and Tadashi was starting to lose feeling in his hand. Kei sat in the seat closest to the window, watching the three men wave goodbye to the boys next to him as the bus pulled away down the road.

“So… you have three dads?” Kei turned to Tadashi, genuine in his question.

“No uhm. Only the one with short hair is my dad. The one with long hair is my uncle. And the one with the grey hair is their friend. They help out my dad.” Tadashi didn’t want to speak about his mother right now, so he waited for Kei’s response, praying that he wouldn’t ask why his dad needed so much help around the house. 

“Oh. Okay.” Kei said without further inquiry. Tadashi released a sigh of relief. As the bus travelled to school, Tobio stayed glued close to his older brother’s side, while the older boys quietly discussed Minecraft and Star Wars, and the other things they were learning they had in common with each other. The conversation wasn’t exceptionally boisterous, as neither of the participants were particularly talkative, but there was an apparent peace between the two of them. The nerves that Tadashi had been stricken with all morning were slowly but surely melting away. He shouldn’t have expected anything less from Suga’s advice… of course he was right! He’s Suga… he knows what he’s talking about.

By the time they had gotten to school, Tobio’s demeanor had done a complete 180 to the behavior that he exhibited that morning. He was stone-faced and silent as the students filed off of the bus. Tadashi led him over to the other kindergarteners, before saying goodbye and retreating back to where Kei was waiting for him. He wasn’t actually sure if he was waiting for him, or just standing around, as he never really asked him to wait, but he was grateful nonetheless. 

(Earlier at the bus stop) 

“I hope Tadashi is going to be okay.” Asahi said as he handed Shoyo to Daichi. Daichi graciously took the youngest of his sons, squeezing him close against his chest. 

“What do you mean?” Daichi planted a kiss on the top of Shoyo’s head, internally thanking him for not being hard to deal with this morning. 

“That was probably really embarrassing for him, Daichi.” Suga explained. Daichi turned in shock at what Suga had just said to him.

“What do you mean?” 

“Really, Daichi?” Suga sighed. “His first day at a new school and his little brother has a screaming tantrum at the bus stop, and then his dad stomps onto the bus and makes his 5 year old brother sit with him and his new friend… That’s embarrassing, Daichi.” Upon the realization that Suga was correct, Daichi’s heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. 

“You’re right.” Daichi said with a slight gulp. “Oh god, Tadashi is going to be so upset with me.” The men began to walk back in the direction of their house. Daichi ran his hand through his short, dark hair, visibly stressed about the events of the morning. 

“Daichi.” Suga reached out and wrapped his slender fingers around Daichi’s wrist. “It will be okay. Tadashi’s a smart kid, and he cares about Tobio. I’m sure it won’t be too big of a deal.” Suga fibbed. If he were Tadashi, he would be mortified. 

Daichi breathed out a forced sigh. “Okay.” His reply was unconvincing. 

As Daichi got ready for his shift, Asahi and Suga watched cautiously, observing how panicked and distressed he seemed as he readied himself. A very nervous Daichi reentered the kitchen, now clad in navy blue scrubs, his face still ridden with the frazzled expression that had manifested that morning. Asahi winced at the sight. He wanted to try and calm Daichi down, but that was far from his specialty. Just as he was about to offer some forced advice to Daichi, Suga threw open the kitchen door. 

"Daichi." He said, a stern look on his face. "I need you to stop freaking out about Tadashi. I'm going to go pick him up from school soon, everything will be fine. You're going to make yourself sick worrying like this, but you have to go work a 12 hour shift. Are you forgetting that it's Asahi's job to be a nervous wreck?" Suga spat, his words harsh, but still delivered with care. Asahi chuckled nervously at the statement. 

"Heh. He is right, Daichi." Asahi uttered to Daichi, who laughed at the comment.

"I know, I just am so--" Suga cut him off mid sentence, by pressing his hand across his mouth.

"If you explain yourself again, you're just going to make yourself more miserable." Suga suddenly grew tense, and removed his hand from Daichi's mouth, promptly taking a step away from him, and wiping his now clammy hand on his pant leg.

"Sorry. You're right." Daichi sighed. "I'm going to go to work, but will you please text me if anything is wrong with the boys when you pick them up please." Suga smiled.

"Of course."

"Suga!" Tadashi ran through the crowd of children when he saw Suga waiting amongst the parents waiting in the school gym.

"Tadashi!" Suga crouched slightly when he saw the boy running towards him. Once Tadashi was within an arm's length, he threw himself onto the man, his face practically beaming with joy. 

“I had the best day, Suga.” He said, a toothy grin spread across his freckled face. “Bye Kei!” He turned to his friend and waved his arm high in the air as the blonde boy offered a gentle understated wave back. Tadashi eagerly turned back to Suga. “This is a really cool school. Let’s go find Tobio!” Tadashi grabbed Suga’s hand and pulled him to the area where all the kindergarteners had gathered. Standing near the end of the line, Tobio stood, his arms looking like they had been glued to his sides, his eyes scanning the other kids, looking somewhat panicked. The other kids were all bouncing and chattering as their parents pulled them from the line, but Tobio stood without interacting with any of his classmates. Suga furrowed his brow at the sight. Tobio was always lively and friendly at home, and he had never shown anything like this to Suga, but Suga had known plenty of students that acted differently in class than they did at home. It was always a shock in parent-teacher conferences when he informed parents that their well-behaved angels were nothing less than a nightmare to have in class. Granted, it seemed to be a different dynamic that Tobio was displaying, but it was explainable nonetheless. 

As Suga and Tadashi got closer to the line, they caught Tobio’s attention, and a small smile creeped across the once blank face Tobio was displaying. Tadashi called out, and Tobio scurried out of line and ran into his brother’s arms and Suga reached to ruffle the boy’s dark hair. 

“C’mon, let’s go.”

In the car, Tadashi proceeded to give an extensive and detailed description of his day, making sure to explain every minute.

“At my old school, they had normal desks, but here they have yoga balls and standing desks and spinny chairs. It was SO COOL!” He rattled on. “Oh! And my teacher gave us candy after lunch! And she has a big bookshelf with like a kajillion different books, and I’m gonna try to read them all.” Suga glanced up in the rearview mirror to see that Tadashi was still wearing the same smile he wore when he had climbed into the car ten minutes ago. Next to him, Tobio had fallen fast asleep in his booster seat, his head flush against the window, his mouth slightly open. Suga smiled, Tobio had a busy day that was certain, he would probably take a generous nap today, but Suga was still anxious to hear about the young boy’s day at school.

When they got home, Suga hoisted Tobio out of his seat and carried him up to the doorway, trailing behind Tadashi who walked with a spring in his step to the back door. One thing they were not expecting was waiting for them when they opened the back door and entered the kitchen. Sitting at the kitchen table was Daichi, no longer in his scrubs, but rather in a t-shirt and pair of jeans. Suga’s brows furrowed with confusion, but before he could interrogate Daichi, Tadashi ran into his father’s arms.

“Dad! You’re home!” Daichi graciously accepted his son’s embrace, and Suga watched as they hugged, and the tension visibly melted from Daichi’s shoulders. Suga quietly left them to chat as he went to deposit Tobio into his bed. When he reentered the kitchen, Tadashi was already knee-deep in the same spiel that he had given Suga in the car, this time seemingly adding more details than he had the first time. Suga watched as Daichi hung onto every last word that Tadashi had to offer, listening as intently as ever. His heart melted as he watched the two of them interact. Daichi would hang the stars for his sons, and it showed, even though he was a little clumsy in the process.

“I’m so glad you had a good day, Tadashi.”

“Me too, dad. I was scared, but then Suga gave me good advice, and I felt a lot better.” Tadashi grinned at Suga who smiled back. 

“Why are you home, Daichi?” Suga began to question as he joined the two of them at the kitchen table.

“Oh uhm,” Daichi grew sheepish suddenly, as he scratched the side of his face. “My supervisor messed up the schedule and he called too many people in today. He let me go home.” Daichi said. His story was convincing, but considering how anxious Daichi was before work, it seemed a little suspicious. Suga ultimately decided not to pry. Before Suga could offer a snarky comment in return, there was a knock at the back door. Daichi went to open in, and standing in the doorway were the Tsukishima boys, wearing the same clothes he had seen them in this morning. 

“Hello, Mr. Sawamura! Hi Tadashi!” Akiteru said as soon as Daichi opened the door. “We were wondering if Tadashi wanted to come play in our yard for a bit.” Tadashi leapt out of his chair, and scurried to his dad’s side. He tugged on his dad’s shirt.

“Please, dad!” He begged. Daichi smiled.

“Sure. I’ll come over to get you when dinner is ready.” Tadashi practically leapt up to hug his dad before running to put his shoes on. 

“Thank you, dad! Bye!” He ran out the door following the two boys through the small gate that separated their backyards. 

Daichi and Suga watched them through the window for a moment. Daichi’s gut wrenched suddenly, thinking about how Tadashi could have made friends with Kei sooner, as they had lived so close to the Tsukishima’s for a few months now, but Tadashi had been in such a slump all summer. He smiled to himself, grateful for the fact that Tadashi was finally starting to cheer up.

“So… What advice did you give Tadashi this morning?” Daichi turned to Suga who gulped at the sudden grilling. Suga turned slowly to his friend who was giving him a suspicious smirk.

“I told him that if he was meant to be friends with a person, then he would be. So he didn’t have to try too hard, and that he should just be himself. That’s how you find the best friends… Like you and me.” Suga looked up at Daichi who’s smirk had dissolved into more of a gentle smile.

“That’s pretty wise.” 

“I know…” Suga grinned. “I told him how we met in seventh grade.” 

“No one would sit with me on the bus because I had my trombone with me.” Daichi coughed out with a laugh. 

“Honestly I wouldn’t have sat with you either, but it was the last open seat.” They shared a laugh for a moment, before a comfortable silence suddenly filled the room. “I’m glad you were a band geek, Daichi. Or else we never would have become friends.”

“Me too.” They sat back at the table, allowing that same comfortable silence to fill the room once again. Being glad was an understatement… Suga was forever grateful for that stupid trombone that made none of the other kids want to sit with Daichi. Whether he knew it or not, Daichi was Suga’s rock, and he had been since they were 12 years old. He provided Suga with the emotional and general stability and security that his own life and personality were severely lacking. He was glad now that he was able to repay Daichi for all those years of support, by helping him with the boys. He could never be as sturdy of a rock as Daichi, but he would try his best for him. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah tsukki is kimmy gibbler what are you going to do about it??? nothing :P
> 
> next time.... two new characters? some romance for Asahi??? the world may never know.
> 
> Best Friend - Rex Orange County


	5. Scrawny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> " I've been sleeping with the light on,
> 
> I tend to freak myself.
> 
> Will you come a little closer now? "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> merry christmas to those of you who celebrate, and i hope you all have a happy new year :))

The house was always so much quieter on days like today. Tobio and Tadashi were at school, Sugawara was running errands, and Daichi was working, leaving Asahi and Shoyo home alone. A few months ago, Asahi would have had a royal panic attack if Daichi had asked him to stay home alone with Shoyo, but now that he has more experience, babysitting Shoyo only gave him a mild panic attack. Luckily for him, Shoyo was a relatively well-mannered kid especially now that he was getting older, and Asahi was getting used to keeping him occupied. 

Another plus side in Asahi’s life was his career. If it wasn’t for the nature of his job as a freelance tailor and designer, he wouldn’t have been able to come help Daichi and the boys. After moving into Daichi’s basement, he was able to convert the space into a half bedroom, half studio type workspace. He had enough room for his fabric, and sewing supplies, and mannequins, while still having a bedroom space of his own. It wasn’t entirely ideal, but it wasn’t the worst living situation a person could ask for. 

Asahi revelled in his current project, as he scanned the mannequin he was working on. There was a beautiful pink dress attached to it, covered in lace appliques and tiny beads that Asahi’s fingers were still sore from sewing on. Only a few more stitches and finishing touches, and he would be able to finish the dress and mail it out to his customer. He released a sigh of relief as he fluffed the tulle that was keeping the skirt of the dress full. A few feet away from Asahi, Shoyo sat on a small blanket, highly enthralled with the brightly colored show Asahi had put on the tv for him. He chattered and squealed as the characters flashed across the screen, looking back at his uncle every once in a while to see if he was watching the same thing he was watching. Asahi smiled back at the boy, commenting every so often to let Shoyo know he was paying attention (which he really wasn’t, but Shoyo didn’t need to know that). 

With a flick of his needle, he stitched on the last piece of lace, and let out a gentle cheer of celebration. Shoyo noticed his change in behavior and he began to cheer along with his uncle, unaware of the reasoning behind the cheers, but still happy to be involved in the moment. Asahi scooped him off of the ground and littered the boy’s chubby cheeks with kisses, as Shoyo squirmed and giggled.

“I finished another dress, Sho!” Asahi told his nephew with a smile. Shoyo babbled back, his face beaming with joy. “Do you want to go play outside, Shoyo? I can set up the baby pool!” Asahi wasn’t really expecting an answer that he could decipher, and to prove him right, Shoyo simply screeched in response to the question. Asahi took the answer as a yes, and readied Shoyo to go swimming. Once the boy was dressed in a swim diaper and the cutest baby swim trunks Asahi had ever seen, he placed his nephew in the grass of the backyard before dragging the plastic baby pool out of the garage. It was late August, but the sun was still sweltering, and he found himself breaking a sweat as he unravelled the watering hose and began to fill the pool. Shoyo watched from a far at first, but eventually his curiosity got the best of him, and he crawled over to where Asahi was.

Once the pool was full with a few inches of water, he placed the orange haired baby in, and he immediately began splashing around, screeching and squealing as the water sloshed around him. Asahi watched proudly, snapping pictures of the baby on his cell phone while holding it just out of the range of Shoyo’s incessant splashing. The biggest smile was spread across Asahi’s face as he watched his nephew. He loved all three of his sister’s sons equally, but Shoyo was special. Where Tadashi and Tobio took more after their father, Shoyo was practically a mirrored image of his mother, which made Asahi’s heart wrench when he saw the little boy. Asahi was wrapped up in his own thoughts of his sister when he heard a voice suddenly cry out and then begin to chuckle. 

“No way! I had a pool like that when I was a kid!” A voice exclaimed. Asahi, being the nervous person he was, instantly began to frantically look around to find the source. “Ha! I’m up here!” Asahi craned his neck up to the source of the voice. Just above the hedges that separated the Sawamura yard from the Tsukishima yard, there was a head and shoulders peeking over the top. The man that had called out to them looked young, around Asahi’s age, his dark hair was spiked high with the front two lighter pieces falling in between his brows. He leaned forward onto the hedges, resting his arms on the leaves. Asahi was mortified at first, How long was this man watching him? Surely he’s harmless right? Who is he? 

“Oh, yeah, Shoyo loves his little pool!” Asahi said, doing his best to conceal how anxious he was. He wasn’t doing a good job though, as he laughed nervously at the stranger’s comment.

“Tadashi has been hanging out over here with Kei and Akiteru a lot, but I didn't know he had _three_ dads. That's pretty sick.” The man flashed a smile, so bright and wide that it was practically blinding. Asahi froze for a second, forgetting to answer momentarily. 

“Uhm, no I’m his uncle. His dad is my brother-in-law. The other man you must have met is our friend Suga.” Asahi scratched the back of his neck, watching the gardener visibly process the explaination. “My name is Asahi. This is Shoyo, Tadashi’s little brother.”

“My name’s Nishinoya. I'm the Tsukishimas’ gardener.” Suddenly, Nishinoya disappeared behind the shrubs and reappeared at the metal gate that separated the yards. He was a lot shorter up close, Asahi noticed as he unlatched the gate without asking, then entered the Sawamura yard. “Well, now I’m the gardener,  _ and _ the pool boy, since they got that beauty put in last summer.” He motioned back to the Tsukishima’s yard, where there was a large inground pool and patio taking up most of the ground. Nishinoya crouched down next to the plastic pool where Shoyo was splashing. “But I think your pool is cooler, little man.” He said, smiling at Shoyo, who smiled back at the kind stranger. Asahi watched for a second before Nishinoya plopped down next to him on the grass, without invitation. 

“My name is Asahi.” Asahi repeated without realizing as he reached out a suddenly sweaty palm to Nishinoya who was possibly the cause for his suddenly clammy hands…. Either him or Asahi’s relentless anxiety…. It was probably a little bit of both.

Nishinoya slapped his small hand into Asahi’s, as the larger man flinched at the impact. Nishinoya shook it graciously, almost shaking Asahi’s whole body, which was quite a feat, considering how large Asahi was and how small Noya was in comparison.

“You can call me Noya.” He flashed his same smile again and Asahi quickly pulled his hand away and diverted his eyes from the smaller man’s tanned face. Luckily, Nishinoya seemed easily distracted, so he didn’t seem to notice how embarrassingly flustered Asahi was getting. He turned back to Shoyo in the pool. “Holy crap man, his hair is even brighter up close. That is so sick, I always wish I had bright hair like that.” 

“Is that why you bleached your front piece?” Asahi asked awkwardly, in an attempt to stoke whatever strange conversation was occurring.

“Oh this?” Noya looked up at his bangs, going slightly cross-eyed for a second before tugging at the lighter strands. “This is just a birthmark. Been like that for as long as I can remember. It actually got bigger as I got older.” Noya explained. Asahi shifted his weight to get a better look at the man sitting next to him. “How old is Shoyo?” 

“He’ll be a year old in a few weeks actually.” Asahi turned to his nephew who was still splashing about in the pool.

“No way! My little girl just turned one!” Noya hopped up onto his feet, before sliding a phone out of the pocket of his denim shorts. 

This man has a kid? Asahi thought. He couldn’t help but be a little put off by the idea, but as he glanced up at the man next to him, the absence of a ring on his left hand peppered a bit of hope back into Asahi’s mind. Noya flipped his phone screen around to show Asahi a photo. The screen showed a shoddily taken selfie, slightly out of focus, partially blurry. Asahi chuckled under his breath… that was fitting. Sitting on the crook of Noya’s arm in the photo was a cute little girl, around Shoyo’s age, her thin, short blonde hair pulled into two small pigtails. Although the girl was young, her expression was easy to read, she looked rather nervous, but still her comfort of being in her father’s arms was apparent. Asahi smiled, the two of them looked to be polar opposites, but as Noya beamed as he scrolled through his camera roll to brag about his daughter, it was apparent that he was head over heels for his little girl. 

“Her name is Hitoka, and she is a hoot!” He showed Asahi photo after photo of the little girl, going back months to where she was just a baby. Asahi listened to Noya gush over the girl as he pulled Shoyo out of the pool. He dried him off with a beach towel before wrapping him up and placing him on his lap. 

“She’s precious.” Asahi said, with a gentle smile.

“Right! So much cuter than I was as a baby. And smarter too. I think she’s smarter than I am now.” Noya slipped his phone back into his pocket before turning his full attention back to Asahi. “I should bring her by one day and they can have a playdate! Jeez that would be the cutest thing ever.”

“Shoyo loves making friends… that sounds like a great idea.” Asahi’s heart began to race at the prospect of seeing Noya again. 

“I gotta pick her up when I get off today. On days when I work, I have a buddy that watches her.” Noya explained naturally. “His wife works from home and they’ve got a kid in middle school, so she has time to watch her during the day.”

“Sounds like my job.” Asahi laughed. “Shoyo’s dad is a nurse, and I work from home, so most days it’s just me and Shoyo at home. Oh, and our friend Suga, but he’s more of a free spirit, so he goes out and about during the day.”

“Sounds like me and Suga would get along!” Noya exclaimed. 

“Shouldn’t you be working, Nishinoya.” Both men turned to see Kei standing at the gate in between the yards. He still had his school backpack strapped to his back, and the same unenthused expression on his face that he always seemed to be wearing. Noya laughed.

“Hey, Kei. Good to see you too, I was just meeting the new neighbors.” Noya began to walk back to the gate. Kei rolled his eyes.

“They’re not new, they’ve been here all summer.” Kei said in the same flat voice that he used the other morning when Asahi met him for the first time…. Perhaps that was just his default tone of voice.

“Oh pfffffft. I know that dummy, but they’re still new to me.” Noya walked up beside Kei, the fifth grader standing only a few inches shorter than the small man. That didn’t stop Nishinoya from reaching out and pulling Kei into a headlock, ruffling his hair and laughing maniacally as Kei squirmed and complained and tried to free himself from Noya’s grasp.

As Asahi watched the chaos unfold, Suga’s car pulled into the driveway, Tadashi and Tobio in tow. At the sight of his friend, who he had just seen at school moments ago, Tadashi leapt out of the car the moment it was put in park, perhaps even before it was completely stopped. Suga came to unbuckle the groggy Tobio from his booster seat. The kindergartener was making it a habit to nap on the way home from school, in an attempt to recharge his rather shallow social battery.

“Kei!” Tadashi ran over to where his friend was still being pummelled by the gardener. “Hi Noya.” Noya released his grip on Kei who staggered away from him, straightening his clothes and glasses. 

“Hey, Tadashi!” Noya gave Tadashi a high five. Tadashi had only been in school for a few short weeks, but since meeting the Tsukishima’s, he spent a lot of time in their backyard with them after school and on weekends, so it was no surprise that he had already met Nishinoya. “I’m gonna bring Hitoka over someday so she can have a playdate with your Sho bro.” Noya paused. “Ha! Sho Bro! That is a dope nickname.” 

Tadashi giggled as he walked with Kei through the metal fence into their backyard. Noya began to follow the boys, before turning back to say goodbye to Asahi. 

“See ya, Sho Bro! Bye Asahi! Nice meeting you. Don’t be a stranger, I’m over here almost everyday!” Noya waved before turning back and reentering the Tsukishimas’ yard.

Suga had returned from putting Tobio to bed in just enough time to see the exchange, and the aftermath, which consisted of a very anxious and confused Asahi turning back to the house, face as flushed as ever. Suga stood on the porch for a few moments watching him physically sort through what had just happened. The man was still holding Shoyo, still wrapped up in a beach towel, the boy apparently growing tired, looking as if he was dozing off in his uncle’s arms.

“Asahi.” Suga said, catching the man’s attention and dragging him back to reality from whatever train of thought he was riding. “You good?” 

“Uhm…. yes?” Asahi said, absolutely no confidence in his answer. Suga laughed. 

“I felt that one.” Asahi cocked his eyebrow at the comment before the two of them retreated back inside. 

It wasn't until Asahi was back in the cool, air-conditioned kitchen that he realized how hot his face had gotten at that interaction. Maybe he was sunburnt? No, he was wearing sunscreen. Wow. It had been a while since Asahi had felt like this…. College maybe? He was having a hard time remembering the last time he had a crush… was this a crush? Surely it wasn't a crush, you just met the guy. But he was really cool, and kind and I am really excited to see him again and get to know him better... Asahi ran over the events that had just occurred, smiling when he remembered that he had scheduled a playdate for Shoyo in which he would get to spend more time with Nishinoya. Damn. Guess it really is a crush. 

Suga leaned back onto a chair in the kitchen, eyeing his friend closely, watching as he deposited Shoyo into a small playpen next to the kitchen table then taking a seat next to him. Suga and Asahi had been friends for a long time, so it was rather easy to read Asahi’s behavior, and he was spiraling. And, since Suga was one to pry, whether he liked to admit it or not, he couldn’t help but interrogate Asahi…. Just a little.

“Had you not met their gardener yet?” Suga questioned

“No, I uh, I never really noticed that they had one, I just-” Asahi’s cheeks flushed as he flustered to find a response to Suga’s nagging.

“He’s a pretty cool guy, Daichi and I have talked to him a few times.” Suga smirked as Asahi buried his face in his hands.

“Daichi and I did what?” Daichi’s voice called from the living room as he entered into this kitchen, still dressed in scrubs, with a tired expression spread across his face. Suga and Asahi both snapped their necks towards the sound. Asahi groaned, knowing that Suga teasing him was annoying, but Suga  _ and  _ Daichi teasing him was unbearable. They were an unstoppable force

“We’ve talked to Nishinoya.” Suga answered innocently.

“Oh, yeah, he’s an interesting dude. Why were you guys talking about him though?” Daichi had begun to rummage through the counters before grabbing a snack and joining his best friends at the table.

“Oh, Asahi met him for the first time today.” Suga started. “And he’s got a fat little crush on him.” He said slyly, jabbing Asahi in the side, as if the impact of his words wasn’t strong enough already.

“No shit?!” Daichi said, and when Suga shook his head, the two of them began to laugh. Suga watched as Daichi threw his head back with laughter, as Asahi pressed his head down onto the table.

For a moment, he felt as though they were still in high school, teasing Asahi at the lunch table in the cafeteria as they did most days in school. Suga’s heart wrenched as his gaze shifted back and forth between his two best friends. Asahi was trying to defend himself, but doing a terrible job doing so as his words were coming out all jumbled, his cheeks still bright red with embarrassment. Suga’s eyes flitted across the table to Daichi, who had traded in his tired smile with a bright wide one, as he nagged and teased at Asahi across the table. The smile lines in Daichi’s eyes were deep, and experienced, filled with laughs and memories of all the years he spent apart from Suga, building his own life and family. 

Suddenly, despite the light and cheerful tone in the room, a knot began to grow in Suga’s stomach. The Daichi that sat in front of him at the table was the same Daichi that sat with him on the bus in middle school, the same Daichi that comforted him when he found him crying at their eighth grade dance, the same Daichi that would let Suga copy his geometry homework when he didn’t quite understand the lesson, the same Daichi that toilet papered the principal’s house with him even though he really didn’t want to, and the same Daichi that said ‘see you after graduation,’ even though they both knew deep down, it wasn’t entirely the truth. Despite all that, there were times, like now, that Suga couldn’t recognize his best friend. He had lived his life, and Suga couldn’t help but feel that he was the same kid he was the day he graduated high school, still waiting to live his own life, even though so many years had passed since then. He still had a hard time wrapping his mind around the way time had passed for their friend group, and he was angry with himself for wasting so many years.

As Suga’s mind wandered, he felt himself growing further and further detached from the conversation that was being had at the table. Then, seemingly to drag him back to reality, he felt something slam into his chest. He was so far into his spiral of existential dread that he didn’t notice Tobio trod down the stairs and throw himself onto Suga’s lap. Suga looked down to see the boy tugging on his shirt, then wrapping his arms around his neck. Suga laughed as he looked across the table at Daichi. His eyes were warm and kind as he looked at his son and Suga. The gaze Daichi provided was enough to melt away the knot that was festering in Suga’s gut. Suga’s face flushed, so he looked away from Daichi, and averted his gaze to Tobio’s face, which was craned up to look at Suga. His ocean blue eyes were wide and bright, as he blinked his dark lashes while he stared up at Suga’s face, still tired from his quick snooze. Suga brought up a hand to smooth his hair which had gotten messy during his nap.

The little boy sitting on his lap and his two brothers were a good reminder to Suga that the time he spent without Daichi was not wasted. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yachi and noya!!!! new characters eeeeeee
> 
> next chapter: tobio time
> 
> thank you all so much for reading it means the world to me, let me know what you think I love reading all the comments :) 
> 
> until next time :))))
> 
> Scrawny - Wallows


	6. Beautiful Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> " Every day, in every way
> 
> it's getting better and better,
> 
> beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy. "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!!!! I've been writing fics since I was in middle school, but 2020 was the first year I actually started to share them with anyone else, and I am so glad I did. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this Tobio-filled chapter!

Sugawara stood in line at the grocery store, his arms overflowing with things to purchase. With each step that he took in line, he felt that he was gradually losing more and more feeling in his arms. He told himself when he entered the store that he didn’t need a basket, he was only going to pick up a few things before getting the boys from school…. But as he walked up and down the aisles, he saw more and more things that he wanted to get. Minecraft cereal for Tadashi to try and some mac’n’cheese shapes that reminded him of Tobio and some new cute socks for Shoyo. Basically, his arms were overflowing, and the line to check out was moving slower than he could handle. 

Right as he was about to be the next in line, his phone began to buzz in his pocket. He groaned internally as he tried to grab his phone, shifting the contents of his arms ever so slightly reaching as hard as he could to get the phone out of his pocket. Maybe they’ll leave a voicemail, or maybe the call is a telemarketer, but nevertheless, the call continued to ring as Suga very obviously struggled to get it out of his pocket. Finally, he retrieved his phone, and most of the things he was holding had plummeted to the floor. 

He sighed as he looked at his groceries on the floor, but when he looked at the incoming call, his heart sunk into the pit of his stomach. Daichi. A call from Daichi, in the middle of the day… Daichi had been at work since early this morning, Shoyo was at home with Asahi, Tobio and Tadashi were at school…. Why would he call right now?

Sugawara answered the phone, eagerly speaking into the call.

‘“Hello? Daichi? Is everything okay?” He asked not being able to conceal the obvious panic he was feeling as a result of the unexpected call.

A gentle chuckle from the other line slightly smoothed over Suga’s nerves, but still, he had no idea why he was calling. He was going to beat the shit out of Daichi later for making him worry like this.

“Hello to you too. Everything is fine.” Daichi answered, sounding tired. Suga sighed. Then why the hell did Daichi call him, making him drop all of his groceries in the middle of the store, making him look like a total idiot? He sighed again… it wasn’t Daichi’s fault that he didn’t get a basket at the entrance of the store. 

“Then what’s up?”

“I just got a call from Tobio’s teacher.” Daichi said, his voice flat. Suga furrowed his brows. “She asked me to come in and speak to her after school today, but I had to explain to her that I would be at work until later, and that you were picking him up…” Daichi’s voice seemed to be trailing off.

“Do I need to go in to talk to her?” Suga could tell that Daichi was dancing around the fact that he volunteered Suga to talk to Tobio’s teacher for him.

“Yes!” Daichi said a little too eagerly. Suga heard Daichi cough on the other line, as he began to chuckle softly. “Please. I don’t know why, she didn’t really say, but please, Suga.” Suga laughed again.

“No problem, Daichi. It’s no big deal, really. I’ll go talk to her.” Suga offered graciously. He wasn’t lying either, it really wasn’t a big deal. Coming from a teacher, Suga predicted that it was probably going to be a quick meeting, lasting no more than 15 minutes. He knew better than anyone that teachers didn’t want to spend any more time in the classroom than they had to.

“Thank you so much, Suga. I owe you one.” Daichi said. Color flushed to Suga’s cheeks at that response, as he struggled to find something to say back. The cashier began to wave him forward in the grocery line, as it was finally his turn, as he silently rejoiced, having a reason to leave the call.

“Don’t worry about it. I have to go check out, but I’ll fill you in later.” Suga hung up as Daichi said goodbye. As he hung up, he finally picked up the things he had dropped in order to answer the phone. With his face to the floor, he felt his cheeks burning as Daichi’s words ran through his head again.

_ I owe you one.  _

Daichi didn’t owe him anything… but there wasn’t really anyway for Suga to tell him that without… telling him other things too. Things that he was nowhere near ready to tell him. He chuckled softly as he loaded the groceries into the car and departed to pick up the boys from school. 

Although he reassured Daichi that he was sure the meeting would be no big deal, he couldn’t help but worry the closer he got to the school that there was something wrong, and that the meeting might end up being a big deal. He pushed all his nerves into the back of his mind as he entered the school to find Tadashi where he waited for him most days after school. He and Kei were sitting on a bench with a few other fifth graders, but the two of them seemed to be in a world of their own, as Tadashi seemed to carry whatever conversation they were having with an occasional comment from Kei. 

When Tadashi noticed Suga, he looked up for a moment and offered an enthusiastic wave and toothy smile, which Suga returned immediately. 

“Hey Suga!” Tadashi called out, when Suga got close enough.

“Hey bud!” Suga walked up to the boys. “Hi Kei.” He said to Kei who barely acknowledged the greeting, but Suga was growing used to the young boy’s apathy. “Tadashi, I need to go talk to Tobio’s teacher, but if you want to stay out here with Kei, you can.”

“I’ll come! Kei is about to get on the bus anyway.” Tadashi popped up and said goodbye to his best friend. He led Suga to Tobio’s classroom, chatting the whole way there, filling him in on his day. When they finally got to the classroom, the room was practically empty, except for Tobio, who sat in the back of the room near the bookshelves, reading quietly. He held the book close to his face, to where he didn’t notice when Suga and Tadashi walked in. The only other person in the room was, of course, Tobio’s teacher, who sat far away from him at her desk. She was paying no attention to Tobio, but rather was scrolling on her laptop. Immediately, Suga clenched his fists at the first impression of this teacher. She was young, probably a few years younger than Suga was, but that was no excuse for being negligent. Suga took a deep breath to calm himself… you don’t know if she’s being negligent, Suga, maybe Tobio said he would rather read than talk or play with her. Still, Suga bit the inside of his cheek, trying to remain calm, even though no real reason had been presented for him to be upset yet.

“Hi, I’m here to pick up Tobio today. His dad said you needed to talk to me.” Suga finally cleared the silence in the room from the doorway grabbing the attention of Tobio and the teacher. When Tobio saw his brother and Suga in the doorway, he hopped up from the floor where he was sitting before sprinting across the room and slamming into Suga’s legs with a huge hug. Suga picked him up off the floor to give him a better hug.

“Oh, yeah. Come on in.” The woman said, barely looking up from her computer.

Suga frowned again before setting Tobio back on the ground. 

“Tadashi, why don’t you two go read some books together.” Suga said, as he urged the boys to return to the bookshelf where Tobio was sitting a moment ago. Suga forcefully unclenched his fists, not quite understanding why he was so angry going into this meeting.

Suga sat at the chair that had been placed in front of the teacher’s desk. It was a small red plastic one, the same that the children would have sat in at their own desks. Surely she could have found an adult sized chair for him to sit in. Luckily her desk was rather low to the ground, so he had no trouble making eye contact with the young woman, once she actually took a second to look up from her laptop.

“My name is Miss Crislip.” She finally introduced herself, not bothering to hold out a hand or offer a smile, but rather offering her name simply because she had to. Suga stifled a scoff at her name…. What a stupid last name. He took a breath.

“I’m Koushi Sugawara. But I go by Suga. I understand you spoke to Tobio’s father on the phone.” Suga said, crossing his ankles awkwardly under the chair.

“Yes. I need to talk to you about Tobio.” She looked over at where the boy was showing his older brother all of his favorite books. Without hesitation, or any sense of gentleness, she spat out, “You need to get him tested.”

Suga tried his best to cover the shock that was surely written all across his face. He furrowed his brows.

“I’m sorry, but why do you think that?” He was trying to remain calm, but internally, he was growing irritated with the woman’s attitude.

“If I’m being honest, he’s just kind of slow. In class, and with the other kids. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s something wrong with him. So you should probably get him tested.” She said, as she picked up a plastic cup of iced coffee and took a long sip out of the straw.

“I’m sure his pediatrician would have noticed something that serious, but I can-” Suga was interrupted, mid sentence.

“Well, you’re not his pediatrician, or his father, so I doubt you would be aware if there was any history of this with him in the past.” She sat her coffee down on the table with a gentle, yet still somehow passive aggressive thunk. Suga couldn’t help but let his jaw drop at the blatant rudeness she was exhibiting.

“I’m sorry, but this is incredibly inappropriate. I’ve been an educator for almost ten years, and this is just beyond appalling the way you are approaching this issue.” Suga was fuming, his toes were clenched in his shoes, his hands were balled into fists, and his jaw was clenched so hard it was beginning to ache. Still, he remained composed, knowing that if they were to speak any louder than they were right now, that the boys would definitely hear them, and that was the very last thing he wanted to happen. 

“I don’t know what you want me to say. This issue needs to be taken care of. I’m not a special education teacher, and Tobio is making this classroom a difficult place for me to teach. I doubt you’ve been around him long enough to even notice if something was wrong with him.” With that sentence, Sugawara stood up from his miniature chair.

“Tadashi, Tobio, we’re leaving. Let’s go right now.” He smiled at the boys, trying his best to mask the fuming rage that was actually seething just below his surface. He hoisted Tobio up onto his hip before grabbing Tadashi’s hand and leading the two of them out of the classroom, without even bothering to so much as glance back at the woman sitting at the desk.

“Tobio.” Suga said gently to the boy propped on his hip who was now resting his head on his shoulder. “Do you like your teacher? Miss Crislip, is she nice to you?” Suga awaited his response as Tobio thought out his answer.

“She isn’t super nice but she’s not super mean.” He said with a yawn. Suga frowned at his vague answer. 

“Tobio, when you are sitting at your desk, do you distract the other kids, are you loud and bad, or do you do what you are supposed to do?” 

“I like to watch the colors on the chalkboard.” Tobio was growing sleepier with his answers, and although that answer didn’t make much sense, it still made Suga ponder as to what exactly that meant. Suga felt while they walked to the parking lot as Tobio gradually became heavier, meaning he had fallen asleep as he carried him. Once Tadashi noticed his little brother was asleep, he looked up to Suga.

“What’s wrong with Tobes?” He asked, his eyes flitting to his brother’s sleeping face.

“Nothing is  _ wrong  _ with him. His teacher doesn’t seem like she knows him very well.” Suga frowned as he latched Tobio into his booster seat, while Tadashi climbed into the backseat with him.

From what Suga had observed with drop-off and pick-up, Tobio was rather stoic and introverted around his classmates, almost always standing alone, or quietly playing with no more than one or two other children. He couldn’t imagine that that same child who would barely speak to his teacher in the drop-off line, would be  _ that  _ much of a troublemaker in class. His mind was spinning, both with possible explanations, but also with leftover frustration from his interaction with Tobio’s teacher. She was very apparently bad at her job, and she was exactly what Suga hated to see in his colleagues. She was arrogant, and judgemental, and just cold to speak to. But even after all that, Suga couldn’t help but be even more upset with the situation. Sure, he took pride in being a teacher, and treating his students with compassion and respect, but at the end of the day, he can’t control what every single teacher does in their classroom. But when Tobio was added into the equation, he couldn’t help but feel his blood boil when he thought about his teacher being cruel, or even just indifferent to him in the classroom. As long as he was involved in Tobio’s life, he would not allow anyone to treat him incorrectly. Tobio deserved better than that.

Much to Suga’s surprise, Daichi’s car was in the driveway when he pulled in from the street. Granted, he had spent a little longer at the school than he thought he would, but still, Daichi was home early. That was probably for the best, given that Asahi was probably not going to be able to handle whatever leftover wrath Sugawara was still dealing with. 

Daichi practically leapt out of his seat when Suga and the boys entered the back door. Tadashi and Tobio ran to him, throwing themselves onto their dad. He wasn’t usually home from work when they came home from school. Suga watched from the doorway, as Daichi picked up the boys and swung them back and forth all while keeping them in a big bear hug. Suga’s expression temporarily softened at the sight, watching Daichi litter Tobio’s cheeks with kisses before setting the two of them down on the ground. 

“Hey Daichi.” Suga finally choked out. Thinking about having to revisit his meeting with Tobio’s teacher was starting to get him flustered. He was also nervous to tell Daichi about the way she handled the situation. If Suga was that angry about it, he couldn’t imagine how angry Daichi would be. “Can we talk?” 

Daichi’s smile flattened and he nodded. Tadashi and Tobio had already set up camp at the kitchen table, and when the two of them went into the living room, Asahi was fast asleep on the couch with Shoyo sleeping on his chest. After Daichi took a quick snapshot of the view, the two of them ascended the stairs to Daichi’s bedroom. 

Suga tensed up upon entering the doorway. He never really came in here. It was a little messy, the hamper tipped over, and the bed slightly unmade, but it was far from unkempt. The whole room smelled like Daichi. Suga shifted his feet awkwardly as he walked in the room, until Daichi patted the bed next to him where he had sat down.

“Take a seat. Tell me what happened today.” Daichi said gently.

Damn it, Daichi. Why did you have to be so perceptive all the time? Suga thought as he realized that his best friend must have noticed how frazzled he was when he got home.

“His teacher is a bitch, Daichi.” Suga said as Daichi scoffed. All of the rage was starting to flow back into Suga’s mind. “She thinks that Tobio needs to be tested.” Suga pressed his lips into a thin tight line. “And there is no problem with that, whether he be on the spectrum or not. But Daichi, that bitch, his teacher, I don’t,” Suddenly Suga felt hot tears welling up in his eyes. “I don’t think she’s ever even spoken to Tobio. She couldn’t even give me a valid explanation for why she thought that,” The tears that had welled were now spilling down his cheeks. “All she could say was that he was hard to teach.” Suga sniffed. “But I know he’s not, Daichi. He couldn’t be. I don’t know why she would say that, I just don’t understand.” 

Before answering, Daichi leaned forward to wrap his arms around Suga. When he embraced him, he let his hand cradle the back of his head the same way that he would hold his sons’. He squeezed gently as he held him, as he felt the anger seeping out of his body through the tears.

“I’m sorry.” Daichi said, as he let Suga press his face into his shoulder. “I should have been there.” 

As Suga sniffed, that woman’s words rang through his mind. _You’re not his pediatrician, or his father,_ _so I doubt you would be aware if there was any history of this with him in the past…_ _I doubt you’ve been around him long enough to even notice if something was wrong with him._ Why did those words make him so angry? Why did those statements make his head spin, and his blood boil? Was it because she was right?

“If he does need to be tested, then fine, if he is on the spectrum, then fine, there’s nothing wrong with that, Daichi, but she was so cruel to me, so I can’t imagine how she treats him.” Suga finally pulled away from Daichi’s firm embrace and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. Daichi’s gut wrenched with concern. 

“Did you try to talk to Tobio?” Daichi asked, trying to keep his tone firm, but in actuality, it was a little shaky.

“I tried, but you know how he is after school. He said she wasn’t super nice, but she wasn’t super mean ether. And when asked what he did in class, he said he liked to look at the colors on the board.” Suga let out an exasperated sigh as he leaned back onto Daichi’s pillows. “I do not understand.” 

“Well, I can call his pediatrician, and get some tests scheduled, but we should go talk to him too. I can call the school and see if maybe there’s another class he can transfer into.” Daichi offered some options for peace of mind, to which Suga felt a little bit of his worry leave.

Downstairs, Tadashi and Tobio were still stationed at the table since they had been when they got home. Tadashi finished his homework quickly, and being the considerate brother he was, he stayed to help Tobio finish his homework. Tadashi liked helping with Tobio’s work, as it was much easier than his own. He was not a fan of long division in fifth grade, but helping Tobio write his name was a lot of fun for him. 

“Tobio, can you please lean back a bit, I need to read the directions on your paper.” Tadashi instructed the little boy, who was hunched over the table, his face only a few inches from the paper. Tobio moved back when asked, however, and Tadashi picked up the worksheet to read it better. After scanning the directions, he placed it back in front of his little brother.

“You should be able to do this no problem, Tobes. You know your letters, right?” He asked with a smile, to which Tobio eagerly nodded his head. Tobio then began to sing the alphabet, Tadashi having to pause to let him finish.

“...Y and Zeeeeeeeeee, next time won’t you sing with meeeeeee!” Tobio sang, his legs swinging beneath him under the chair.

“Nice! This should be pretty easy for you then. Can you write your name at the top?” Tadashi slid the paper a little closer to Tobio and handed him a chunky pencil, which Tobio gripped firmly. 

As Tobio wrote, he began leaning in closer and closer to the paper, furrowing his brows, squinting his eyes, allowing his tongue to slip out of his mouth in concentration. Tadashi watched as he wrote his name, rather sloppily and relatively out of line with the space where it was supposed to be.

“Uh… Okay, good job, but when we go down here,” Tadashi pointed to the bottom half of the page. “You need to try a little harder to write on the lines and spaces, okay? It will keep your words neat, and easy to read.” Tadashi smiled proudly. He took pride in his handwriting, it was neat and his teachers were always complimenting his penmanship. The boys in his class at his old school used to tease him, and would tell him that his handwriting was ‘girly,’ which did hurt his feelings a little bit, but when he saw how pretty the girls’ handwriting was in the class, he didn’t mind much.

“Okay, Tobes. What letter does apple start with?” Tadashi said, pointing at the graphic on the worksheet.

“Ah, ah, A!” Tobio sounded out.

“Awesome, you got it! You have to write big A’s and little A’s here, so you can do that right?” Tadashi asked, and Tobio nodded.

Tobio squinted his eyes as he started to write the letters on the page. He knew that there wasn’t an A in his first name, but he had lots of A’s in his last name, and Tadashi, and his dad had A’s in their first names. Writing was a lot harder than he thought it was going to be though. He watched Tadashi, and Daddy, and Suga, and Asahi as they wrote, and they all did it so easily. He figured that writing must be easier when you’re bigger or a grown-up. He listened to Tadashi as he was trying to help him stay in the lines on the paper, which he thought he was doing, but when he finished writing all of his big and little A’s, he couldn't help but be discouraged at his big brother’s reaction. 

“Done!” Tobio said, showing Tadashi the paper. Tadashi tried not to let the confusion show on his face, but when he saw the sloppy letters that dipped in and out of the lines they were supposed to be in, he couldn’t help but be a little frustrated.

“Tobio, I told you that you have to write in the lines.” Tadashi corrected gently.

“I thought I did.” Tobio said flatly, a look of disbelief on his face.

“What do you mean? The line is here,” Tadashi pointed to the paper, tracing the line with his fingertip. Tobio leaned in so close to the paper that he bumped his forehead into Tadashi’s wrist. “Can you not see that line, Tobio?”

Tobio frowned at the question. 

“I can see that line.” He pointed to the thick border on the paper.

Tadashi began chewing on his lip as he thought. A few days ago he had convinced Kei to let him try on his glasses, and when he wore them, he could barely make out anything. He could see blurry colors and shifty figures around him. He remembered something that Kei had said to him.

“Woah!” Tadashi said as the frame slipped onto his nose. “I can’t see a thing! Everything is all blurry!” Tadashi reached out his hands, unable to see where exactly he was reaching. Kei grabbed his wrists.

“Well, that’s all I can see right now too, so can I please have my glasses back?”

It finally clicked.

“Dad!” Tadashi yelled. “Suga! C’mere to the kitchen!” 

Hearing Tadashi yell out their names like that regardless of inflection was always quite startling for a parent, so when they heard the calls, Suga and Daichi both sprinted down the stairs. Both of them were relieved to see the boys sitting, nothing outwardly amiss at the kitchen table.

“What, Tadashi? You scared the crap out of us!” Daichi said, immediately regretting his choice of words.

“Crap.” Tobio said with a giggle.

“Don’t say that word Tobio.” Suga said sternly, and the mischievous grin on Tobio’s face disappeared.

“Dad! I think Tobes needs glasses!” Tadashi finally came to the conclusion out loud, and he watched as Daichi’s and Suga’s jaws dropped open. Suga turned his head slowly to face Daichi. He thought back to how Tobio told him how he “liked to watch the colors on the board.” Was it because he couldn’t read what those colors were saying?

Daichi walked up beside Tobio, and kneeled next to him at the table.

“Tobio. Have you been having trouble seeing?” He asked calmly.

“I don’t know. I don’t- everything looks the way it always does.” Tobio said, tears welling up in his eyes, thinking that he was in trouble or that something was wrong with him based on the current situation. By now, Suga had approached the two of them at the table and was glancing down at the worksheet. He saw the shoddy penmanship, and the sloppy lines.

“Everything is okay, Tobio.” Suga placed his hand atop the boy's silky jet black hair. With his other hand, he pointed at the paper. “Can you show me where you’re supposed to write your name on this paper?”

Tobio furrowed his brows and scanned the paper before planting his finger slightly under and to the left of the line he was supposed to be pointing at. Upon that realization, Daichi and Suga made eye contact above Tobio’s head.

“Well, I think that settles it. I guess I’ll call the eye doctor.” Daichi stood up from where he was kneeling, and a very panicked Tobio turned around in the chair.

“Doctor?!” He said, the discomfort showing on his face. “I don’t want to go to the doctor please don’t make me go!” He cried out.

“It’s not the normal doctor, Tobio. The eye doctor isn’t scary at all, but we want to help you see better. The eye doctor can give you cool glasses, like the ones Uncle Asahi wears when he works!” Suga explained. Speaking of Uncle Asahi, Suga thought, he figured he and Shoyo would have woken up from all the commotion right now, but they were both still probably conked out on the couch.

Tobio still wore a worried expression on his face, but he wasn’t as outwardly upset anymore.

“Thank you for telling us this Tadashi. I can’t believe I never noticed, I wonder how long it’s been like this.” Daichi couldn’t help but feel like a failure of a father upon the fact that he had never noticed how much trouble Tobio had with vision.

“It’s okay, Dad.” Tadashi smiled his toothy grin. “I wouldn’t have known either, but Kei told me something about wearing glasses, and I remembered that while I was helping Tobio today.” 

* * *

Tadashi’s assessment was more than correct, and less than a week after the incident at the kitchen table, Daichi and Suga had taken Tobio to the eye doctor and gotten him fitted with a new pair of glasses. They were the colorful plastic kind that children wear, and although Tobio was skeptical initially at his visit, he was more than excited to pick out a nice shiny blue pair of glasses. They had a small strap that wrapped around the back of his head, that kept them in place when he was playing. Daichi figured that he would probably want to trade in those plastic ones for a different pair within a year or so, but they made him happy now, so that was all that mattered.

When they slipped his glasses on for the first time, Daichi and Suga sat eagerly, waiting to hear Tobio’s consensus about his sight. Up until now, they had sort of just played him off as being a clumsy child, so they were rather eager to see all that he could accomplish with clear vision. 

When the glasses were in place on his nose, his eyes widened a little as he glanced around the optometrist office. He scanned the walls, and the furniture, before looking at Daichi’s face.

“Daddy!” He leapt out of his chair and latched his arms around his father’s neck. He leaned back and squished Daichi’s cheek with his hand. Daichi smiled as Tobio stretched and pulled at his cheek, presumably looking at how different Daichi looked now that he could see clearly.

“What do you think, Tobio? What can you see?” Suga asked, bending closer to Tobio and Daichi.

“So many things!” Tobio said. He pointed to the beauty mark below Suga’s left eye. “That dot! I’ve never seen that before!” Tobio giggled before climbing off of Daichi and wrapping his arms around Suga. He squeezed the boy tight as he stood up, keeping his arms around Tobio and lifting him off of the floor.

The night Suga met with Tobio’s teacher, Daichi called the school and requested that Tobio be moved to a different classroom. The administration was more than willing to move him to a new class, and upon speaking to the superintendent, the school was appalled to hear the way Tobio's teacher handled the situation, and they may have been the cause of a certain Miss Crislip having to go on a professional leave. 

When the weekend ended, and school rolled around, the time came where Tobio would have to wear his glasses to school for the first time. He was still getting used to his new classmates, and it was apparent as he rode in the back of the car on the way to school that he was incredibly nervous to show up in his new glasses. 

Suga looked up in the rearview mirror to see a twisted expression on his face and his hands wringing in his lap. He made constant checks on the boy, but when they stopped at a red light, he realized that Tobio had been silently crying. Tadashi had been reading a book, so he hadn’t even noticed.

“Tobio,” Suga, “What’s wrong, baby?” Tobio looked up, his eyes wet with tears, and his mouth turned into a deep frown.

“I don’t want to wear my glasses.”

“But, Tobio, you waited all last week for them to come in the mail, and don’t you like being able to see better?” Suga asked.

“I don’t know.” 

“Tobio, you’re going to be able to read and write so well in class today.” Suga said, completely truthfully too. He knew that Tobio was smart, but he was being held back all this time.

“No one else wears them in my class.” Tobio finally choked out. Suga frowned. He had talked to Asahi about how fun it is to wear glasses, but it probably didn’t help that Asahi only wore his when he worked, and that no one in the household needed to wear them. It must have been his mother’s genes giving him poor eyesight.

“Don’t you want to be special, Tobio? They’re all gonna want glasses when they see how cool yours are.” Tobio sighed.

When Tobio looked up into the little mirror on the windshield and saw Suga’s smile, he couldn’t help but feel like he was going to be okay. But as Suga led him into the school and gave him one final squeeze before letting him walk to his classroom, he felt the terrible feeling rising in his stomach again.

The kids in class weren’t mean to Tobio about his glasses, they were about as indifferent towards him as they usually were, not paying much attention to him as they played at recess, and only talking to him every once and awhile at lunch and snack time. It was pretty much the same day Tobio usually had, even now that he had a different teacher and classmates.

When Suga came to pick the boys up at the end of the day, Tobio was standing alone at the end of the pick-up line like he usually was. He stood with his eyes pinned to the ground. When Suga got closer, he realized he was holding his glasses by the strap in his hand. Suga frowned as he approached him, before placing his hand on his shoulder. 

“Tobio.” Suga said calmly. “Why no glasses?”

“I don’t like them.” He said, without looking up at him. “I don’t want to wear them anymore.”

Before Suga could respond, Tadashi came charging towards them.

“Suga! Tobio! Come show Kei your new glasses! You guys can be glasses twins!” He said with a smile.

Tobio reluctantly followed his big brother over to where he was usually sitting with Kei. He forced the glasses back onto his face before looking up at Kei’s face.

“Cool. I like them.” Kei said, with something that could only be equated to a smile. Suga was baffled, as he stood there thinking about how he wasn’t sure if he had ever seen the boy smile before. Suga looked down to see the wide smile that had spread across Tobio’s face since Kei’s unenthusiastic compliment. The words he gave were far from exciting, but coming from a blunt stoic like Kei, it was apparent that the words meant a lot to the little Tobio. He would never admit it, but he looked up to Tadashi and his friends like crazy.

“I changed my mind, Suga.” Tobio said as Suga latched him into his booster seat in the back of the car.

“Oh yeah, about what?” Suga asked knowingly.

“I do like my glasses.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing baby Tobio, in fact I read a lot of fics where he's a baby/little kid, frankly because he was so cute when he was little.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, even though I feel like not much happened.
> 
> As always thank you Erica for editing, and thank you all for reading!
> 
> next chapter: a glance into the past
> 
> Beautiful Boy - John Lennon


	7. Suffice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> " Cause I have only loved without confession,
> 
> I'd rather settle for a never-ending stream of self-questioning,
> 
> and you are just another
> 
> that I'll lose because I didn't want to bother. "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a while for me to get this chapter out, I had a little bit of trouble writing it, maybe you will understand why when you read it.
> 
> I didn't like it at all when I started it, but now I really do, and I hope you do too.
> 
> Thank you so much for 1000 hits! I love you all so much, thank you for reading and commenting it means the world to me. I am so blown away that you guys like this fic so much. :) Thank you!

Quite a few years ago...

Dark brown eyes shot up to meet the frustrated gaze of two caramel colored ones. 

“Can I please sit here?” The sentence was less of a question, and more of a statement that was spit out through gritted teeth.

Daichi closed the book that was propped open in his lap and smiled. He had never seen the boy standing in the aisle before. That didn’t matter to Daichi though, he needed a seat because the bus was about to start moving. Daichi picked up the hard black case of his trombone that he had sat up in the extra space next to him. He tucked it under the seat before patting the worn leather of the bus seat where it once sat. 

“Go ahead.” Daichi smiled again and turned back to his book. 

The boy in the aisle shuffled his feet before sitting down. He figured there would have been more of a debate to let him take the empty seat, but the boy obliged more than willingly. He sat down reluctantly, staying at the edge of the seat, to where his left leg was practically dangling in the aisle. 

The morning sun was blinding through the trees, hitting the windows at just the right angle to where it hit all of the students right in the eyes. The dew that had collected on the bus windows overnight was replaced with the fog of all of the middle schooler’s body heat. The other students on the bus were drawing pictures, playing tic tac toe and scribbling all over the foggy windows, while Daichi and the other boy sat in silence in their seat. 

“My name is Koushi.” The boy finally said to Daichi, who closed his book again when Koushi began to talk.

Koushi clenched his jaw as he watched Daichi shut his book completely, looking up with full attention every time he said something to him. _ Why did something so simple annoy him so much? Don’t pay that much attention to me, keep your book open, I’m not that important, I was just introducing myself. _

“I’m Daichi. It’s nice to meet you.” The boy sitting closer to the window smiled again. With the gentle smile that he offered, Suga couldn’t help but feel even more frustrated at how nice he was being right now.  _ Why wasn’t he being rude to him like the other students on the bus? _ “Are you new here?”

“Yeah. I used to live in Washington. But now I live here.” 

Koushi folded his arms across his chest. He was trying hard to keep a cold facade, (although he wasn’t sure why he felt so inclined to do so) but in actuality he loved living in California. He could talk for hours about the weather, and the beach, but just knowing that the boy sitting next to him would listen attentively to every word he would share made him not want to speak another word on it. 

“That’s cool! I’ve lived here my whole life, so if you ever need any help with anything just let me know.” Daichi offered, as warm, if not warmer than the Southern Californian sun that Koushi had grown to love.

“Thanks.” Koushi choked out, having to look away from the boy closer to the window. The sun was glaring through the window and hurting his eyes… That's why he needed to look away. There was no other reason for Koushi feeling the need to pry his eyes away from the physical manifestation of a gentle ray of sunshine sitting next to him, no other reason at all. “What instrument is that?” Koushi asked as he kept his eyes glued to the center aisle of the school bus. 

“That’s my trusty trombone.” Daichi explained, goofily patting the side of the instrument case as if it were a sailboat, or an antique car. Koushi laughed at the gesture, still being sure not to look at Daichi for too long. “I’m hoping to be First trombone this year. I practiced a lot over the summer, I think I have a good chance.” 

What a nerdy thing to say. Koushi thought to himself. As he sat without answering, feeling the bumps on the road, he couldn’t help but feel his stomach churn. Imagine having something you can work towards, or are passionate about…. he didn’t have anything like that. Sure playing the trombone was nerdy, but at least he did  _ something _ . Koushi sighed quietly. 

“Do you do anything for fun?” Daichi asked as he ran his thumb up and down the spine of his book. 

Koushi chewed the inside of his cheek. 

“I like to read, I guess.” Koushi fibbed. He couldn’t remember the last time he read a book, but he didn’t know how to tell this kid that the only thing he did at home was watch TV and torment his little brother.

If you had told Koushi that Daichi’s face could have been any brighter, he would not have believed you, but as the words exited his mouth, Daichi started to beam like never before. 

“I love to read!” He said excitedly. “What’s your favorite book? I’m reading this one right now,” He showed the book to Koushi. The spine was worn and there was a bright blue dragon on the front. “I’m almost done with it, you can read it when I’m done!” He was so excited, it made Koushi feel terrible, considering that he wasn’t actually very fond of reading. 

“I like Harry Potter.” Koushi said. He wasn’t entirely lying, but he also didn’t remember more than the basic plot. 

“Me too!” Daichi smiled. 

_ Stop being so nice to me _ . Koushi thought.  _ I’m gonna puke. Or cry. Or both.  _

Almost as if to save Koushi from a conversation about a book he didn’t remember, the bus screeched to a halt, in front of a brand new school. 

Suddenly, he would much rather stay on the bus and talk about Harry Potter. His conversation with Daichi was enough of a distraction of the impending doom that was actually school, but now that the kids around him were filing out of the seats, he could not even begin to ignore the pit in his stomach. 

“Who’s your homeroom teacher?” Daichi asked him, his voice cutting through the boisterous noise of the bus. 

“I don’t know.” Koushi couldn’t muster any more of an answer than that. 

“Okay! No problem, I’ll help you out.” Daichi offered graciously as he dragged his trombone off of the floor. 

Koushi followed behind Daichi like a lost dog, as he expertly maneuvered around the busy gymnasium, bustling with teachers, students, and parents. Koushi watched attentively as Daichi spoke politely to the teachers, asking mature questions, and bantering with them as if he were a grown adult. Finally after speaking to a few teachers, Daichi turned back to face Koushi, who was still glued to his heel. 

“Great news, Koushi!” He said, still beaming like he was on the bus. Maybe he always looked like that, so happy and bright. “We’re in the same class! That means I can help you out, until you make some more friends.” 

Koushi stopped in his tracks as those words exited Daichi’s mouth.  _ Did he not want to be my friend? _ Koushi’s mouth went dry, he felt his hand clenching in his pocket. 

Daichi must have noticed the look on Koushi’s face, because immediately he began to speak again. 

“Unless you wanna hang with me. I wasn’t too sure. You seemed cooler than me, and I just didn’t know. I’d be more than happy to be your friend though.” 

If anyone else his age had said that to him, Koushi wouldn’t have believed them, but there was something so genuine about the way Daichi spoke to him, that there was no doubt in Koushi’s mind that he was telling him the truth. 

“I’ll be your friend.” It felt juvenile, the way Koushi offered it, like how kindergartners made friends, but he didn’t know any other way to answer him. 

“Great!” Daichi held up his hand for a high five, and Koushi paused momentarily before returning the gesture. He stood there looking at the boy, trombone in one hand, other hand outstretched ready for a high five, a smile across his face, his hair neatly combed, his backpack strapped tightly to his back…. he was a nerd. That would have bothered Koushi at his old school, but for some reason, he really wanted to be Daichi’s friend. 

Koushi returned the high five and Daichi cheered at the simple gesture. For the first time since getting on the bus that morning, Koushi let a smile creep onto his lips. 

Much to the boys' surprise, they had last names close to each other in the alphabet: Sawamura and Sugawara. That coincidence granted them seats close to each other in their class room, Daichi in the third row, and Koushi right behind him in the fourth. 

“Our last names are kind of similar!” Daichi turned around in his chair to talk to Koushi. 

“I guess so… they’re long and start with S and they both have a W in them.” Koushi said indifferently. 

“That is so cool! Sugawara.” Daichi scratched his chin like an old man. “You could shorten that to Suga!” He pointed his finger up to the ceiling like he had just made the revelation of the century. 

_ Suga. That was kind of silly _ . Koushi thought to himself. He liked it. 

“Okay. If you want you can call me that.” Koushi said gently. No one had ever given him a nickname before. Sometimes his brother called him a turd, but he wasn’t sure that counted. 

“Okay, Suga it is!” Daichi turned back around in his seat with pride as the teacher started speaking to the class. 

Suga let his mind wander as he sat there staring at the back of his new friend’s head.  _ His friend.  _ Sure, he had friends back in Washington, not like he was going to see them anytime soon, or even talk to them.  _ Not like they would want to talk to him. _ But Daichi was here, in California, and he was more than happy to not only talk to Koushi, no Suga, but to be his friend too. Suga felt a warm feeling in his chest, a warmth he initially would have associated with the sun, but would soon come to associate with Daichi. It was such a pleasant warmth, that Suga became very familiar with. 

The boys spent most of the seventh and eighth grade practically glued at the hip. Suga started reading again, choosing from Daichi’s extensive list of recommendations and his unbelievably large bookshelf. Suga would sit in the hallway outside of the band room after school, while he waited for Daichi to finish rehearsal. Most days he would read, so that he and Daichi could talk about their favorite books on their walk home, but some days, he would just sit, listening to the muffled music of the band. They were pretty good for being a bunch of middle schoolers. The time Suga spent waiting outside of the room was something he cherished, but nothing came close to the way he cherished his walks home with Daichi. 

Daichi would fill him in on the drama of the band, but never in a way that was condescending or cruel, but he still placed enough trust in Suga to tell him all of the secrets. They would speak about books, class, homework, movies, just anything they could think of, but there was always something to talk about with the two of them.

It became a dependable routine for Suga, something he really needed in his life. Not only was Daichi a dependable friend, but he was a dependable person. He followed routines, and got things done, and was just more organized and put together overall. Suga admired that about him, along with many other things. He felt the list of things he admired about Daichi growing longer and longer as the days went on.

Things really started to shift into place in Suga’s mind at the end of his eighth grade year. He realized what most of those tangled up and long lasting feelings he had for Daichi really were, and he couldn’t have figured it out at a worse time. 

Their eighth grade spring formal dance was something that both of the boys were dreading. They both had begged Daichi’s mother to let them stay home and watch movies and pull an all-nighter, but she insisted that they would regret not going to the dance. As soon as Suga stepped into the sweaty gym, he felt nauseous. His peers were all dressed up, the same way he was. The girls he sat next to in class were almost unrecognizable, wearing poorly applied makeup, and their moms’ expensive perfumes. He made his way to the bleachers, losing track of Daichi in the process. The room was dim, and there were cheap colored string lights and streamers hung all over the walls. His head was already spinning. 

Finally, he saw Daichi on the other side of the gym, speaking to someone that he was pretty sure he recognized. As soon as Suga saw him, Daichi also picked Suga out of the crowd and led the person he was talking to over to where Suga was sitting.

“Suga!” Daichi said a little too loudly when he was finally within Suga’s range. Daichi had a pretty big growth spurt the summer before eighth grade, making him a few inches taller than Suga, but the other boy still managed to tower over Daichi. “This is Asahi, we’re in band together.” Daichi said kindly.

Despite the other boy’s large appearance, his presence was comparable to that of a mouse. He shyly waved to Suga as Daichi introduced the two.

“Oh, I think I’ve seen you leave the band room before. Your instrument case is a lot smaller than Daichi’s…. What do you play?” 

Before Asahi could answer, Daichi stepped in.

“He is First flute this year, and he is incredible, so so so good.” Daichi clapped the taller boy on the back, and Asahi flinched forward.

Suga began to grit his teeth. He knew that Daichi had other friends, that was a given, he had been going to school with these kids since they were five years old. Still seeing him so chummy with someone made Suga’s stomach churn.  _ He didn’t have any other friends besides Daichi.  _

Daichi was all he really needed… or wanted.

“Cool.” Suga spat back, harsher than he originally intended. Suga knew Daichi would try to talk to him about how he was feeling right now, Daichi was far too perceptive to not notice how upset he was, and frankly Suga was being rather obvious about it. “I’m going to the bathroom.” Suga began to walk away from the bleachers, taking a second to turn back to see if Daichi was following him.

Tears were beginning to sting in the corners of his eyes. He looked back at Daichi.

_ Please follow me. Please be following me. Please.  _

He wasn’t following. He wasn’t trailing right behind him, the way Suga was always trailing behind him. The tears that had welled up began to spill over onto his cheeks. He never would have imagined that this would have happened tonight. Why was he crying over Daichi like this? Why?

He hurriedly left the gym and sprinted out to the hallway. His shoes smacked on the tiled floors as he ran further and further away from that gymnasium. He found himself in the hallway right outside of the bathroom, but he couldn’t even make himself go inside. He slid his back down the wall, before landing with a thud on the cold, hard ground. 

Suga pulled his knees in close to his chest and squeezed them tightly. His chest was tied up in knots, and his eyes were still flowing, possibly even faster than they were before.  _ Where was he? Why didn’t he follow me? _

“Asahi, I’ll be right back,” Daichi said, back in the gym as he watched Suga sprint out into the hallway. “I’m going to go talk to him.” 

“I can help you find him,” Asahi offered with a gentle smile. “We don’t really know where he went, and two sets of eyes are better than one!” 

Daichi nodded graciously and the two of them headed out into the hallway. They split up immediately, Daichi turning left, and Asahi going straight down the hall. 

Daichi knew exactly where to find Suga. He was sure he would be sitting outside of the band room. It was his favorite place to go during the school day, so he was sure that he must have gone there now. 

Asahi walked slowly down the hall until he walked up to the boys bathroom door. Sitting outside, almost as if he was keeping guard of the bathroom, was Suga. His face was still buried in his knees, and he didn’t look up until Asahi was less than a foot away from him. 

When Suga heard the footsteps, he eagerly looked up, he sniffed his nose and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Daichi?” He said before his eyes focused on the figure standing in front of him. It was not the person he hoped to see. Instead of Daichi’s comforting smile and kind eyes, it was Asahi wearing a stupid smile and his hands wringing in front of him.

“Why are you here?” Suga said, turning away from him, so as to not let him see his tear stained cheeks and eyes that were swollen from the tears. 

“Daichi and I, uh, came to find you, so we split up.” Asahi explained quietly.

“I don’t care.” Suga said, his words as coarse as gravel. “Leave me alone.” Suga paused before uttering the words: “Leave Daichi alone.” 

Asahi took a slight step back from where Suga was sitting.

“I don’t- I was just-” The taller boy was having a hard time answering the harsh words that Suga had spit at him.

“Leave him alone. Please.” The second time Suga said it, the words were less cruel, but instead they came out like a plea. His cries caught in his throat and choked out the words.

“Why?” Asahi slid his back down the wall until he was sitting right next to Sugawara. 

_ Why should I tell you?  _ Suga dug his fingernails into his legs, and he could feel them piercing him through his pants. He didn’t answer, and Asahi didn’t pry. Suga sat there stewing in his anger and tears. He wished that Asahi would pry, because if he started to pry, then at least Suga could shoot back a snarky remark, or say something mean and unrelated, but the way Asahi sat there silently, with no judgement or pressure, made the tension in Suga’s shoulder release. He couldn’t help but feel like he should tell him why he was upset. He wasn’t sure why.

“He’s my only friend.” Suga said quietly. He didn’t look up to see the look on Asahi’s face. He was sure it was a loom of indescribable pity…  _ no, it wouldn’t be _ … he didn’t know Asahi that well, but he couldn’t imagine him being anything other than kind.

“I’ll be your friend.” Asahi said gently. Suga looked up from his knees to look as Asahi smiled back at his tear stained face. He never thought he would encounter someone who’s tone was as genuine as Daichi’s, but Asahi was giving him a run for his money.

“You don’t have to say that. It’s not that.” Suga bit the inside of his cheek.  _ If that’s not what it is, then what is it, Suga? _

“Not what? I want to be your friend,” Asahi kept looking at Suga, his gaze sometimes flitting off to the side, not because he was lying, but because he was nervous.

“No you don’t. I was just mean to you and told you to stop being friends with Daichi. You don’t want to be my friend.” Suga stood up to walk away, and as he did, Asahi grabbed his wrist.

“I do want to be your friend. And I don’t know why you’re upset, but I do know that you are Daichi’s best friend. Nothing could ever change that. Especially not me.” Asahi offered half of a smile as the tears returned to Suga’s eyes.

“I am?” He said in disbelief. Every day, he was discovering more and more that Daichi meant the world to him, but he never stopped to think if those feelings were mutual… he also never stopped to think about what those feelings were. They had always been there, that twisted up knot he felt in his chest when he sat next to Daichi on the school bus, the way his hands got all clammy when they had their first sleepover, the way his gut wrenched when he saw Daichi hanging out with Asahi.  _ What were those feelings?  _ Suga asked himself. 

As he thought it, the two of them heard footsteps bounding around the corner. Suddenly, the dim hallway was illuminated with Daichi’s bright smile. Even though the hall wasn’t that long, he was waving his arm above his head so that they realized that he was there and coming for them. 

When Suga’s eyes landed on him, the gears in his mind clicked into place.  _ Oh. Those feelings… all of those stupid, pent up, uncontrollable feelings… is that what they were? _

Without hesitation, as soon as he was within arms length from the two of them, Daichi wrapped his arms around Suga’s shoulders and squeezed him into a tight embrace.

_ Yep. That is definitely what those feelings were. _

“Thank goodness. I was so worried about you.” Daichi said without letting go of Suga. “Are you okay?” Finally, he released him. Had Daichi been crying too? His eyes were shimmering more than normal.

_ Yep. Those feelings…. They’re love aren’t they. Suga… You love him don’t you.  _

Suga was frozen in his stance upon the realization.

“Yeah.” He said, barely moving. “I’m okay.” He wiped his tears with the back of his hand and then reached back out to hug Daichi again. “I’m not upset anymore.”

“That’s so great!” Daichi smiled. “Do you want to go back into the dance, or should I have one of the chaperones call my mom? She could come pick us up.”

Suga’s eyes burned from all the tears he had shed and the thought of stepping back into that sweaty gym made him feel nauseous. 

“Can we leave?” Suga said, worried to upset Daichi, stripping him of his time at the dance.

“Of course! It was boring anyway. And if you aren’t having fun, then I shouldn’t force you to stay!” The three of them started back in the direction of the gym. “Honestly, I wasn’t having fun either.” Daichi looked back over his shoulder and smiled at Suga who was trailing right behind him. 

_ You can’t smile at me like that, Daichi…. I just realized what all these feelings were, stop being so charming.  _ Suga felt his cheeks warm and he looked down at his feet as they continued to walk.

“If it’s okay with your mom, maybe Asahi could come too.” Suga said, out of the blue.

“Really? Do you want to come spend the night?” Daichi turned to Asahi who was apparently overwhelmed at the plans that had been suddenly placed on his lap.

“I-uh yeah I would have to call my mom and ask.” 

“Awesome!” Daichi practically leapt at the sentiment.

The three of them left the eighth grade dance that night, their classmates watching, not understanding why they would want to leave early. Daichi and Suga had had dozens of sleepovers, but this was their first one with Asahi, and that trend stayed solid for a long time.

* * *

The summer before their freshman year of high school, Suga’s mind was clearer than it had ever been before, but his heart? That was an entirely different question. He found that a lot of anger was because he didn’t know why he thought that Daichi was such a ray of sunshine, or why when Daichi smiled it made him happy by association, or just any thought of Daichi made him feel so safe. 

He and Daichi were as close as ever, spending most of their summer days together. Suga was sure that Daichi didn’t think much more or differently of their time together, but Suga cherished every last second of it, even more than he used to. 

“No, all I’m saying is that I think we should join a sport this year, Daichi. I don’t do anything… maybe it would be fun.” Suga said as he and Daichi lay sprawled out on Daichi’s bedroom floor. There were fans dousing them in coolish air, but it was too hot to be outside. Suga propped himself up on his elbows.

“What sport would we play?” Daichi asked, still glued to the floor, presumably stuck there with his own sweat.

“I don’t know. Definitely not football. You’re too nice to play football.” Suga looked over so that he could see Daichi’s reaction to the comment. Daichi’s eyes crinkled with laughter at the sentiment, and Suga felt his heart soar.

“You’re right.” Daichi glanced up at Suga who was still intently scanning his face. “You could though. You’re mean enough.” 

“Hey, not true!” Suga jabbed Daichi’s side as Daichi leapt into action as well.

“Your first instinct was to attack me! You are too mean!” He cried as he started to jab back at Suga. “You’re too skinny to play football, someone would tackle you and you would literally snap in half.” 

“Oh you’re a jerk, Daichi.” Suga moved over to where Daichi was half sitting, half attacking Suga on the floor, and he sat square on his chest. “Who’s skinny now?” 

“You are! You’re skinny  _ and  _ you’re sweaty!” With ease, Daichi picked up Suga off of his chest, and practically launched him onto the bed. Suga screeched as he flew a couple feet until he landed onto the mattress with a splat. 

“You know what. I think you could play football, but you would probably get a violation for whatever move that was that you pulled on me.” Suga said, now sitting cross legged on the bed.

“Okay, okay. So it sounds like not contact sports....” Daichi laid back down, staring at the ceiling as if he would find the answer in the popcorned texture.

“What are some non-contact sports?” Suga looked up at the ceiling too. “Tennis?”

The two of them made eye contact before bursting into laughter.

“Okay, so not tennis.” Daichi said, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes.

“Volleyball? It’s tennis but not as lame I guess.” Suga said, sitting up to look at Daichi.

“Okay.” 

“Really, that’s all the convincing it took?” Suga said in disbelief. 

“Sure. If you want me to play volleyball with you then I will.” Daichi said before laying back down on the floor. 

Suga sat there and stared at his best friend lying on the floor in front of him. His kind, selfless, incredible best friend. His handsome best friend.  _ Suga please, now is not the time. _ He threw himself back onto Daichi’s bed, searching through his brain…  _ How am I supposed to live like this? I can’t tell him how I feel but… I really want to.  _ He laid still for about fifteen minutes, thinking about all of the different ways in which some sort of confession would go. Almost none of them were positive outcomes, but still, he wanted to say it to him.

Suga sat back up, but this time he didn’t look at Daichi. 

“Daichi, I really like you. As more than a friend.” He said impulsively, slapping his hand over his mouth as soon as the sentiment was exposed. 

There was no answer from the boy on the floor. 

_ Oh my god, Koushi, you’ve screwed up big time. You just ruined the best friendship you’ve ever had in your life. Why would you even say that to him right now? _

Suga pried his eyes away from the wall he was staring at, down to where Daichi was laying. His best friend laid in the same position he was in fifteen minutes prior, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling gently.

_ Oh my god. He was asleep. _ Suga could have leapt out of bed with joy.  _ Never again Koushi. You are never ever going to say that to him again.  _

And he didn’t. The feelings were there all through high school. There were days where it was almost painful for Suga to sit behind him in class, or set to him in volleyball practice, or hang out with him after school. He wanted to hold his hand, he wanted to kiss his lips and feel him smile as he pulled away, he wanted him to hug him, not like pals on the playground but like boyfriends, partners, like lovers. He knew they would be friends for a long time, there was no doubt about that, but he didn’t want to be  _ just friends.  _ That sounded like a miserable life for him, living as  _ just friends _ with Daichi, when in actuality he was so in love with him that some days it was all he thought about.

He made it all the way to graduation, somehow never making a peep about it. He lived this double life that was so ironically contradictory. His time with Daichi is what kept him going, but at the same time, it was the most painful time, knowing that he couldn’t spend it with him the way he truly wanted to. But even then, when he wasn’t with Daichi, the cycle continued, and he wished to be with him again. It was terrible, but somehow lovely at the same time. But at graduation, as he watched Daichi cross the stage, valedictorian for their class, he felt a pit in his stomach. He had always felt so inferior to Daichi. He wasn’t that far behind him, he was vice captain of the volleyball team, only a few ranks behind him in their class but still finishing in the top five, but still, he couldn’t help but feel that he was holding Daichi back. That terrible, awful, nagging feeling in his head kept telling him that Daichi would never love him the way he wanted to be loved, and he felt so guilty for thinking that he might. 

As he sat there at graduation, he felt a rift form between himself and Daichi. And what made that chasm even deeper, is that it was self imposed. It wasn’t there because of a fight, or anything either of them said, it was there because Suga couldn’t imagine a world where Daichi loved him back… at least not in the same way he did.

They said goodbye that summer less than halfway through, Suga going farther abroad than Daichi, going to a special program that allowed him to move into college early. He watched through the rear view mirror as Daichi stood on the sidewalk with Asahi and Suga’s parents and little brother waved their arms frantically watching Suga drive further and further down the road. Tears stung his eyes as Daichi’s reflection grew smaller and smaller until he couldn’t see him. He cried for most of the drive, swearing that he would move on, swearing that he couldn’t live like this anymore. 

Through college hook-ups and random make-out sessions, every time, his mind always went back to Daichi. He felt even guiltier than he had before, because now he was getting other people wound up in his baggage. He dropped boyfriends and girlfriends after second or third dates, swearing that it just wasn’t meant to be. He would come home from those dates and cry quietly into his pillow at night. He was sure his roommate heard his gentle sobs, but if he did, he never bothered to ask him if he was okay. 

Everytime he thought Daichi was being pushed back into his mind, he got a flash of nostalgia followed by that same guilt. Because Daichi didn’t know that Suga felt this way, so he just thought their relationship fizzled out for some unknown reason. Suga was riddled with guilt constantly. 

* * *

Finals week of his senior year of college, he heard The News for the first time. It was relatively late at night, and he had been studying for so long, and he hadn’t been on his computer much. He closed his notebook filled with notes and doodles before opening his laptop. It would be a quick break, he needed to get back to studying. He mindlessly scrolled through Facebook until he saw it… The Picture. Daichi looked beautifully handsome, a sleek black suit and bow tie, his hair cut shorter than usual, just the way Suga liked it best… his lips, locked with a woman, wearing the most beautiful wedding dress he had ever seen. Her bright red hair billowed in fluffy curls over her shoulders. Suga’s heart plummeted into the pit of his stomach.

That was Asahi’s little sister. 

Sure enough, as Suga scrolled through the wedding photos, he saw Asahi dancing with his little sister, and then smiling next to Daichi.

_ Asahi was probably his best man. _

Suga stood up from his desk, slamming his laptop shut. He felt like he was going to vomit, or scream, or both. Tears were pouring from his cheeks to the point where he felt like he couldn’t breathe. He fell to his knees in the middle of the floor. He got a new phone number two years ago… he didn’t bother to reach out. They could have contacted him on Facebook… but he lives almost halfway across the country now.

_ Koushi Sugawara, you are a terrible friend and a terrible person. You should have been there for him, you should have been there for him. _

_ It should have been me. _

_ Why not me? _

* * *

Suga’s first teaching job relocated him a few hours away from his childhood home in California. He had no intentions on going back though. After that night, he deleted his Facebook and most of his contacts. He still thought about Daichi, but it was less of the painful pining it used to be

and now more of a horrifying reminder of what a terrible person he was. He poured himself into his work, until he felt so devoid of passion, and purpose. His life was empty, and it was his own fault. Until that day…

The suggested caller ID.  _ How did he get my phone number? Why is he calling? Why, why, why Daichi, why?  _ Everything came rushing back, every last memory, every single tear, all of it, as he answered the phone and heard Daichi’s voice for the first time.

It was really him.  _ He needed me, he needed my help.  _

There was no other option in Sugawara’s mind. He needed to make up for what a repulsive friend he had been. He had to help Daichi through whatever he was going through. 

He should have known that Daichi wouldn’t have treated him any differently when they met again for the first time. Sure, they were both older, but Daichi may as well have been that same nerdy little seventh grader that Suga sat next to on the first day of school. He had traded in his wide, curious eyes, with tired, kind ones. His awkward pubescent frame was replaced with a sturdy one, filled out with all of the muscles that Sugawara’s own body could never harbor. But his smile. That sweet, sweet, smile. It made Suga realize that he would never move on from Daichi. And after being with him and his sons, he quickly realized that he didn’t want to move on from Daichi.

Daichi was too good. Daichi was everything to him; Daichi was his home. 

And Suga was so happy to be home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. Never. Ever. Write. Angst.
> 
> It is simply something I have so much trouble doing. I don't dislike it, it's okay in healthy doses for me, but I think this was a necessary evil for Suga's character development. He truly would do anything for Daichi and his boys.
> 
> Thank you so much Erica for being the best beta reader ever. Love you bestie.
> 
> Next chapter, Asahi time! A revisit from Noya, and introducing Hitoka!
> 
> suffice - mxmtoon
> 
> EDIT: ^ that's kind of a lie... there is a bit of them in the next chapter, but they actually aren't going to end up being the main focus for the chapter oops lol sorry
> 
> In case I forget to specify later on, Asahi got Suga's number from his mom.


	8. Never Grow Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> " Oh darling, don't you ever grow up,
> 
> don't you ever grow up,
> 
> just stay this little. "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thank you so much for 100 kudos. That is absolutely freaking bonkers to me that so many people have enjoyed this fic so far.
> 
> I hope you keep reading, and that you enjoy this chapter.
> 
> As for the canon birthdays, Shoyo's and Yachi's are the only ones that didn't make sense and that are different in this. I plan on keeping the rest the same. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy Shoyo's 1st birthday chapter!

Tobio stomped down the stairs into the kitchen. He wasn’t usually the last one to wake up in the mornings, but today, he trudged into the kitchen almost a whole 45 minutes after everyone else had woken up for the day.

“Good morning, Tobio.” Daichi said from the kitchen table as the boy shuffled across the kitchen floor, holding his glasses and rubbing his sleepy eyes with balled fists. He wore a pair of pajama pants that he was almost too tall for, the pants stopping a little above his ankles, and the shirt riding up on his belly. “Did you sleep well?”

Tobio didn’t answer, but rather approached his father’s chair before tugging on his shirt, and then immediately crawling into his lap. Suga and Asahi, who were both sitting at the table, watched in confusion as Tobio got comfortable. Tadashi sat a few chairs away and rolled his eyes at his little brother’s clinginess.

Daichi leaned over and kissed the top of Tobio’s head before ruffling his silky hair. Suga watched as Tobio leaned back into his father’s chest, looking almost as if he was going to fall asleep again. The sight was adorable, even though Tobio was a relatively tall child, he seemed so tiny in his father’s arms; it made Suga’s heart soar. 

“Well, like we were talking about,” Daichi shifted the conversation to whatever they were talking about before Tobio made his grand entrance. “I don’t think the celebration will be anything huge,”

Suga and Asahi nodded in agreement.

“Celebration?” Tobio looked up at his father’s face.

“Shoyo’s birthday party! He turns one tomorrow!” Daichi said with a smile as he looked over to where his youngest son was sitting in a baby chair next to the table. 

Tobio’s expression grew sour, as a frown crept across his mouth.

“I hate Shoyo.” He said. All three men’s mouths dropped open at the words, as Tadashi sat trying to conceal his laughter.

“Tobio, that is not very nice.” Daichi’s voice immediately grew deeper, and more stern. Even though they weren’t the ones getting scolded, Asahi, Suga, and Tadashi felt themselves sitting up straighter in their chairs as they listened to his tone. “Say you’re sorry.” 

Tobio looked his father up and down, before uttering the word, “No.” 

It was short, and to the point, but from the way Tobio said it, it seemed as if he meant it. 

Even from across the table, Suga could see the anger rising in Daichi. Suga hadn’t been around long enough to see Daichi really scold his boys. They were all relatively well-mannered, and they never really got into too much trouble, but as they all sat at the kitchen table, Suga felt as though that was about to change. He decided it might be best that he speak up before Daichi had another chance to say something to Tobio again.

“Why do you feel that way?” Suga said calmly and rationally. Tobio shrugged indifferently.

“Dunno.” He said, sitting up straighter than he was before, now swinging his legs under the table.

“Tobio, he’s your baby brother, you don’t hate him.” Daichi said, calmer than Suga assumed he would have been.

“I don’t care. I don’t like him.” Tobio hopped down off of his father’s knee before running out of the kitchen. The three men watched as he disappeared upstairs, then exchanged their looks of disbelief. 

“Where in the world did that come from?” Suga said as he tucked some of his hair behind his ear. 

“I have no idea.” Daichi leaned forward and rested his head in his hands. He had been working extra shifts at the hospital recently, and although he hadn’t told Asahi or Suga this, he felt as though he was missing out on spending time with the boys. This instance simply solidified those thoughts in his mind. Maybe if he didn’t work so much he would have seen what led Tobio to act this way.

“Tadashi, has he said anything like this to you recently?” Suga turned to where Tadashi was tapping on his iPad. Tadashi looked up and furrowed his brows.

“He says mean stuff to me all the time. Never about Shoyo though.” Tadashi looked back down and started to tap again.

Daichi let out an exasperated sigh, before pressing into his temples with his fingers.

“I don’t even know what to do with him.” Daichi said, sounding truly defeated.

“Daichi, it’s okay.” Suga smiled. He almost reached out to grab Daichi’s hand, but he found himself recoiling and drawing it back into himself. “He’s probably just going through a little phase, it happens with kids his age all the time. I can talk to him if you want.” 

Daichi looked up and smiled weakly at Suga.

“Thank you. But I really think I need to talk to him.” Daichi stood up from the table as Suga bit the inside of his cheek.  _ Was he overstepping his boundaries by offering to talk to Tobio? No, Suga, stop it, don’t think that way… Surely he appreciated the offer. _

Daichi started up the stairs as Suga and Asahi watched. Even Tadashi looked up from his iPad to see his dad disappear through the same doorway his little brother had gone through a few moments prior.

“Tobio’s in trouble….” Tadashi said, a slight lilt to his voice. He seemed a little too pleased.

Suga turned to him and offered Tadashi a disappointed frown, but he was already too enthralled in his game to notice that Suga had done so.

Asahi hadn’t contributed much to the conversation since Tobio came downstairs. He sat quietly, staring off into the distance for most of the interaction. Suddenly, after Daichi had gone upstairs, Asahi stood up and moved to Shoyo’s chair before lifting him out and wrapping his large arms around him. Shoyo giggled and babbled as his uncle swayed back and forth. He turned and walked out of the kitchen into the living room, still clutching Shoyo tightly against his chest, leaving Suga and Tadashi alone at the kitchen table in silence for a few moments.

“I think he was crying.” Tadashi said.

Suga turned to look at Tadashi as soon as he said it. He sat for a moment before what had happened clicked in his mind. Asahi and his little sister Aya were incredibly close growing up, and Suga could only imagine that seeing Tobio being so mean to his baby brother would upset Asahi. Although Suga didn’t know all the details of the boy’s mother’s passing, he did know that it was a car accident… he could only imagine that Asahi probably didn’t get the chance to say goodbye. Seeing the boys interact as siblings was probably still a raw subject for Asahi.

Sugawara stood up and passed through the door following closely behind Asahi. Sure enough, he hadn’t gone far, but was now sitting on the couch, with Shoyo propped on his knee. He bounced it gently, as Shoyo nonchalantly enjoyed the movement, but when Suga looked up at Asahi’s face, there were still remnants of tears littered on his cheeks.

Asahi looked up, his eyes meeting with Suga’s and suddenly his back straightened and he wiped the tears from his face. Suga walked across the floor to meet him on the couch, sitting down next to him, and wrapping his arm around his shoulder.

“I’m so pathetic.” Asahi said, the tears started to swell back up in his eyes.

“Don’t say that.” Suga rested his head on Asahi’s firm shoulder. This was something Suga did a lot when they were in high school. Asahi had such firm and stable shoulders that still somehow managed to be soft and welcoming at the same time. “You are allowed to be upset. Not necessarily upset with Tobio, because I’m sure Daichi has that covered for the both of us,” Asahi chuckled at the comment. “But you can at least be sad. Let yourself grieve, Asahi. You don’t have to forget about her.”

“I used to say things like that to her when we were little,” Asahi leaned forward and planted a kiss on Shoyo’s forehead. “I don’t think I ever really apologized for them either.”

Suga felt his heart tighten in his chest. He couldn’t imagine Asahi being incredibly cruel to his little sister, he was far too gentle, but still it was apparent that he felt guilty about things he had left unsaid between the two of them. Suga made a mental note to call his little brother later… who he was sure was mistreated much more than Aya ever was by Asahi.

“That’s how big brothers are.” Suga nudged Asahi with his elbow. “I’m sure she knew that you were just kids.”

Asahi smiled softly to himself, reflecting quietly on the moment. When he looked at Shoyo, he saw his sister, undeniably. They had the same amber eyes, and flaming hair, the same smile, and contagious giggle. But more than that, he could see bits and pieces of his sister in all of her sons. It was apparent in Tobio’s resilience and unbreakable spirit. He saw her in Tadashi’s kindness, and intelligence. He didn’t have to live ridden with guilt for things left unsaid with his sister, because he could make up for it now, by being there for her sons.

“Thank you, Suga.” Asahi said gently.

“You don’t have to thank me.” Suga found himself saying this a lot these days. Maybe he felt as though he was making up for the past too. “I’m here for you.”

They sat together a little while longer, cooing over Shoyo, who would be turning one the next day. He had had a few playdates with Nishinoya’s daughter Hitoka, but since then, it seemed as though he had been growing up like crazy. She was only a few months older than him, but she was already toddling and almost speaking, and it seemed as though that lit some sort of competitive spirit under him. In the three weeks since he had his first playdate with Hitoka, he had been trying to walk more, and his incoherent babbling started to make somewhat more sense than it used to.

Suga hadn’t been involved in most of the first year of Shoyo’s life, but still, in the few short months he had been there for him, he had grown so much that it made his heart wrench just thinking of the little boy he had first met.

When Sugawara re-entered the kitchen, he found a very agitated looking Daichi sitting at the kitchen table. Tadashi was still perched in his chair, still tapping on his ipad like he was when Suga left him. It was hard to tell if Tadashi was uninterested or just indifferent to the situation; He had grown used to Tobio’s temper and attitude. 

“He locked the bedroom door.” Daichi said without looking up. Suddenly, Tadashi was invested in the conversation.

“How am I supposed to get back in the room?” Tadashi cried out. 

Daichi shot him a disapproving and fatherly glance that said ‘Now is not the time for that.’ Tadashi shrunk back down into his chair.

“I don’t have time for this today. I have to go pick up Shoyo’s cake, and we need to decorate the living room, and it’s a mess in here, and I just-” Daichi’s voice became more panicked with each task that he listed off.

Suga crossed from where he was standing to place a firm, yet gentle hand on Daichi’s shoulder. His muscular frame was tense, but upon Suga’s contact, he seemed to relax a bit.

“Daichi. Look at me.” Suga squeezed Daichi’s broad shoulder. 

Daichi looked up from the spot on the table he had laser focused on.

Suga’s heart clenched slightly when they made eye contact. His gaze was not what Suga was expecting. His eyes weren’t angry, or sad like Suga would have thought, instead his expression looked… lost.  _ Over such a small occurrence like this? Tobio had blow ups like this at least twice a week… he was 5, that’s what five-year olds do.  _

“Tadashi, can you go upstairs please?” Suga asked the boy calmly.

“Well, I can’t go to my room. Tobio locked me out.” Tadashi said, a little too much sass present in his voice. Suga breathed out sharply through his nose.

“Can you please find somewhere else besides the kitchen to go to right now?” Suga offered a forced smile, causing Tadashi to scurry out of the kitchen without so much as a peep.

Suga slid into a chair next to Daichi.

“Daichi. This is normal. Kids Tobio’s age do this all the time. I’m sure he’ll be over it in a week.” Suga offered as some sort of consolation. Daichi sighed.

“I feel like I’m just never here for them.” His voice seemed choked up as he began to speak. “I should be here for them but I’m always at work… I feel like I am constantly letting them down.” Suga bit the inside of his cheek.

“Daichi, please.” Suga said through gritted teeth. It didn’t seem to matter, as Daichi was too wound up in his own thoughts to even notice Suga’s quiet interjection. 

“And they deserve better than that. If I was here I could have noticed that Tobio started acting like this I could have talked to him. There are so many things I could and should be doing.”

“Daichi. Stop.” Suga didn’t hate many things in his life, but hearing Daichi speak so poorly about himself ranked pretty highly on the list.

“What?” Daichi finally snapped out of his stream of worries.

“Please stop talking about yourself like that.” 

“Suga, I just-”

“Daichi you are driving me crazy. Stop it. Right now.” Suga’s tone had grown much more serious, and his lips were drawn into a thin line. Daichi frowned when he saw Suga’s face. “You do so much for these boys, don’t ever for a second think you don’t.”

Daichi opened his mouth to speak but Suga stopped him before he could get any words out. 

“And Tobio.. Oh my god, please don’t worry about Tobio. Sure, you don’t see him as much as you used to, but I spend so much time with that boy and he has not said he hated Shoyo ever, before today. He doesn’t hate him.” 

“But why is he being so difficult today? He locked his door and he won’t talk to us.”

“Daichi, you have younger siblings, but you are also an angel child,” Daichi frowned at the comment. “I was so mean to my little brother growing up. I hope Tobio never gets as bad as I was, but that would be pretty difficult to do…” Suga rested his hand on Daichi’s knee. “That’s what normal big brothers do.” Daichi looked up to meet Suga’s gaze. His eyes were slightly crinkled on the side.

“Are you saying I’m not normal?” Daichi asked, with a slight laugh to his voice. 

“Daichi, you are so far from normal.” Suga smiled before leaning forward and wrapping his arms around Daichi. Daichi hesitated momentarily before returning the hug. 

When Daichi hugged someone, he almost always held the back of their head with his hand. It was just something he always did. He did it when he was a kid, when he would comfort his younger siblings, or when he saw Suga for the first time after going on vacation and not seeing him for a week, and still when he got older, when he held his sons, and when he comforted his friends… when he comforted Suga. Today though, Suga felt the opening, the opportunity to try and comfort Daichi the same way he always tried to comfort others. His arm rose a bit until his hand was cradling the nape of Daichi’s neck. Suga didn’t expect anything to happen, but to his surprise, as soon as he shifted his hands, he could feel the tension melt out of Daichi’s body. Suga knew that the “Daichi” hug was comforting, but he didn’t realize it was that effective. 

“Thank you.” Daichi said softly into Suga’s shoulder.

“Please don’t thank me.” Suga said softly.

“You always say that.” Daichi pulled away from the hug. “I don’t care… Thank you.”

“You have a cake to go pick up,” Suga said, with a gentle pat on Daichi’s knee. “I’ll keep an eye on Tobio’s room in case he decides to show himself.”

* * *

Daichi returned a little while later with two cakes in hand, a sheet cake for the guests and a smaller one for Shoyo to smash. Tobio had unlocked the door to the bedroom, Tadashi claimed it was due to his influence, but really Tobio just had to use the bathroom. However, he still was turning a cold shoulder to Shoyo every time he saw him. Of course the adults scolded him for it every time, but he would just pout and frown for a few minutes before returning to picking on Shoyo again. 

“I told you guys that he is mean to me like this all the time, but you only care when he’s mean to Shoyo. That seems a little unfair to me.” Tadashi folded his arms as he helped Daichi and Suga set the dinner table.

“Tadashi, you can defend yourself… Shoyo can’t. And you know better than anyone that you aren’t always kind to Tobio.” Suga said, handing Tadashi plates that he then sat on the table. 

“Still. Tobio is just a meany. Always has been.” Tadashi finished setting the table before taking his seat and waiting for the rest of the family to join them.

Asahi and Shoyo took their seats, followed by Daichi and Suga, lastly joined by Tobio, who stomped down the stairs when Daichi called for him. He scowled and scrunched his nose when he saw what they were having for dinner. 

“I don’t like peas.” He said, his arms folded across his chest.

“Well, they’re on your plate so you have to eat them.” Daichi instructed, scooping a fork full of peas into his own mouth.

“No.”

“Yes, Tobio. You need to eat your veggies.”

“No peas are stupid like Shoyo, give them to stupid Shoyo.” Tobio spat out. Daichi’s eyebrows furrowed and he did his best to remain calm and collected.

“Tobio. Do not say that word.” He said calmly. “And apologize to Shoyo. Right now.” Sure, it wouldn’t have done much in hindsight whether Tobio apologized or not. Shoyo didn’t really understand that Tobio was saying mean things to him. But he needed to apologize.

“No. I’m not sorry.” 

“Tobio.” Suga offered his teacher look, the one he gave students when they were too loud in the hallways or when he caught them cheating on a test. Immediately, Tobio’s back straightened in his chair. Daichi’s dad look was scary, sure, but Suga’s teacher look…. Bone-chilling.

“I’m sorry, Shoyo.” Tobio said quietly, his eyes glued to his plate. He picked up his small fork and began to stab the peas on his plate, one by one, before reluctantly eating them, the disgust visible with every bite.

Tobio went to bed that night without dessert. It was punishment for the way he behaved, but Daichi hoped as he tucked him in that he would be able to stuff him full of birthday cake tomorrow, so long as he behaved himself. 

Daichi leaned forward and planted a kiss on Tobio’s forehead. His eyes were still soggy from the short burst of tears he shed earlier when Daichi told him he wasn’t having dessert that evening.

“I love you Tobio. Please don’t ever forget that.” He brushed his hair off of his forehead. Tobio started to drift off as Daichi stroked his forehead.

“Love you too, Daddy.” He said, as his dark lashes fluttered and he eventually fell asleep. Daichi gave him one last kiss on the forehead before standing up with a sigh. He never would have thought that Tobio would have been such a difficult child. When he was a baby, he was sweet and calm… maybe this change had something to do with his mom…. Or maybe Suga was right? This is just a thing that five year olds do. Tadashi didn‘t do it when he was five, but his age gap with Tobio was just big enough that he probably would have grown out of this phase before he would have had a lot of interactions with him. 

Daichi left the large shared bedroom where his oldest sons slept. The door to Suga’s room across the hall was open, and Daichi crossed into the door to see if he was in there. Sure enough, Suga was sitting cross legged on the floor hunched over a gift bag, stuffing it with copious amounts of tissue paper. Daichi smiled quietly as he watched him almost maniacally fluff the paper so that it stuck out at every angle and direction. He laughed softly under his breath. It took a few moments for Suga to realize Daichi was standing in the doorway. He turned around quickly, slightly embarrassed that Daichi had seen his crazy efforts to wrap Shoyo’s birthday present. 

“Hey.” He said, his cheeks flustered. 

“Whatcha doin?” Daichi said, his side still leaning into the doorframe. Suga’s eyes grew wide at the sight. He looked particularly handsome, his arms crossed, and his head leaning against the doorframe. It was sort of agitating how effortlessly attractive he was,

“Uh…” Suga struggled to find the words to answer. “Babies like the tissue paper, so I put extras for Sho to pull out.” Daichi smiled at the idea.

“I’m sure he’ll love it.” Daichi said as he finally crossed the threshold into the room. Suga suddenly became extra tense as he realized that he and Daichi hadn't been in his room together alone since Suga moved in. To Daichi, this was no big deal, it was his house he should be allowed to go into whatever room he wanted to, right? Especially one that his best friend lived in… Suga thought. But Suga? He thought his heart was going to pound out of his chest. Daichi crossed into the room before turning and flopping onto Suga’s neatly made bed. 

“I just hope tomorrow will go well… for Shoyo.” Daichi said, his gaze locked on the ceiling. It took Suga a moment to make the decision at first, but finally, he laid down next to Daichi, leaving about a foot of room in between them. Daichi turned to look over at his best friend. Suga looked up at the ceiling knowing full and well that Daichi was looking at him, just craving eye contact (something that Daichi excelled at and that Suga paled in comparison). Suga finally turned his head to answer Daichi. 

Their eyes locked, and Suga felt a familiar knot growing in his stomach. These days he couldn't help but feel like he was a teenager again, right after he figured out he had a crush on Daichi. Those were some of the best and some of the worst days of his life, and he couldn’t help but feel like he was reliving them right now. 

“Do you want me to be honest?” Suga said, his eyes still locked on Daichi’s.

“Hit me.” Daichi said. Suga reached out and slapped him on the arm. “Ow. Not like that, you know what I meant.”

“It’ll probably be a hot mess.” Daichi let out an exhausted laugh.

“Yeah, I know.”

“But it’s his first birthday… He won’t remember if the streamers are right or if he gets good presents… just as long as he has fun. That’s all that matters.” Suga smiled gently, and Daichi returned the notion. Oh, and when Daichi smiled, Suga could feel his heart soar. 

They laid there for a while, in silence, just in the other’s company. Although Suga was technically silent, his mind was like a stadium full of noise. It felt the same as when they had their first sleepover at Suga’s house instead of Daichi’s their freshman year of high school. The whole night he was so on edge about the way things looked, and what Daichi thought about his room and his house, even though he knew that Daichi would never judge him. 

“Well,” Daichi finally sat up off of the bed. “I’m gonna head to sleep.” He walked to the doorway of the room.

_ Please don’t leave, Daichi, just stay in here with me. It’ll be a sleepover, like when we were kids. Or maybe more if you want...  _ Suga found himself biting the inside of his cheek even though he hadn't actually said anything out loud. _ He’s just going across the hall… you’ll see him as soon as you wake up. Stop being so stupid, Suga.  _

“Good night.” Suga propped himself up on his elbows to watch Daichi leave the room and enter the hallway.

“Night.” Daichi said as he shut the door behind him. 

Suga flopped his head onto his pillow, allowing a muffled groan to slip out.

“You’re hopeless, Suga.” He said to himself.

* * *

The next morning, Daichi was in full party planner mode. He did keep Suga’s advice in the back of his mind though as he hung up various decorations around the house. He and Suga both woke up early, before any of the boys, or Asahi for that matter. They probably went overboard on the decorations considering that this party was probably less of a party and more of a get-together, but they couldn't help but go all out for Shoyo… in fact, they would have gone all out for any of the boys. 

After they had almost finished decorating the kitchen, they heard some shuffling upstairs. Daichi was in the middle of laying out decorations on the table, so Suga opted to go upstairs and see if one of the boys had woken up. 

He climbed the stairs to find an empty hallway, but the door to Shoyo’s room opened. He walked into the doorway, to find Tobio standing in front of the bars of Shoyo’s crib. Suga was about ready to intervene, thinking that Tobio was maybe tormenting his little brother, given his attitude yesterday, but he paused for a second when he heard Tobio’s tone of voice as he talked to his little brother.

“It’s your birthday, Shoyo. Did you know that? Probably not… I don’t think you know a lot of things.” Tobio said as he walked away and dragged a small ottoman to the base of the crib before climbing onto it and then over the bars of the crib so that he could be with his brother. Suga watched, quietly pulling out his phone to text Daichi to come see. He told him to be quiet, so as to not ruin the moment.

“It’s okay if you didn’t know it was your birthday. We’ll still have a party.” Tobio reached out and hugged Shoyo, who was just sitting listening to Tobio speak. “We can have a party when Tadashi turns eleven, and then when I turn six, and then when Daddy turns like, a hundred, I don’t know.”

At this point, Daichi had joined Suga in the doorway, quietly observing the sweet moment between the boys. Suga had to stifle a laugh at the comment, as Daichi jabbed him in the side for thinking it was funny. 

“Birthdays are fun. You’ll get presents, and cake and your friends will come over, but you don’t have any friends yet. Just us. That’s okay. You’re still little,” Tobio explained to his baby brother. “I’m your friend though. And Tadashi. And Suga. And Uncle Asahi. And Daddy.”

Accidentally ruining the moment, Tadashi had woken up in the time that the two had stationed in the doorway, and he didn’t realize they were stealthily watching what was happening in Shoyo’s room.

“Why are you guys standing in the hallway like that?” Tadashi said from right behind his dad. 

Daichi and Suga jumped at the sound of Tasashi’s voice right behind them. Tobio looked over at the doorway realizing that Daichi and Suga had been standing there.

“Oh, hi daddy. Hi Suga. I was telling Shoyo about his birthday, since he’s never had one before.”

“I know, buddy I heard. You were being so nice to him” Daichi crossed over to the crib before lifting Tobio out of it. Suga followed suit and pulled Shoyo out of the crib.

“Of course I was daddy, I love Shoyo!” Tobio said innocently as he rested his head on Daichi’s shoulder. Daichi let out an exasperated sigh and Suga offered a knowing glance in return. He tried to warn him... five year olds are crazy, their moods change like the weather. 

Suga got Shoyo dressed for the day, in a bright yellow shirt and the cutest little denim overalls. When he brought Shoyo downstairs, his brothers and Daichi and Asahi were all there waiting for them. 

Daichi held his arms out for Suga to deposit Shoyo into them. He littered Shoyo’s cheeks with kisses, wishing him a happy birthday over and over again. 

“How long till my birthday?” Tobio chimed in from the kitchen table. Asahi and Tadashi sighed.

“You still have like 3 months, Tobio.” Tadashi said as he snatched some potato chips out of the big bowl on the kitchen table. 

“Don’t worry, Tobio, we’ll have a party for you too.” Suga ensured from behind the kitchen island. Tobio smiled to himself, presumably imagining whatever extravaganza they would have for his sixth birthday.

The guest list for Shoyo’s party was short, but still it was sure to be an eventful time. Tadashi invited the Tsukishima brothers, even though he was pretty sure that Kei was not very fond of Shoyo, or babies in general. Also invited to the party was Nishinoya, and his daughter, Hitoka, who Shoyo had met a few times in the previous weeks through play dates that Noya and Asahi had set up.

Asahi had done his best to stay in contact with Noya after their first meeting, and to the best of his ability, they had, although Asahi couldn't tell if Noya was just humoring him for the sake of his daughter's socialization. Noya was a good guy though, and it seemed as though he was genuinely interested in being Asahi’s friend.

When Nishinoya arrived, he carried Hitoka in the crook of his elbow, and in his other hand, he had a large gift wrapped present. 

“Hello Sawamura household!” He greeted loudly as he entered. It wasn’t a shock to anyone inside though, as that was how he entered every time he brought Hitoka over for a playdate. 

“Hey, Noya, thanks for coming!” Daichi said as he took the large present from Noya and laid it on the table with the rest of the gifts. Kei was sitting at the table with Tadashi when Noya arrived. He rolled his eyes upon the man’s obnoxious entrance.

“Why did you invite my gardener?” Kei said flatly.

“He’s not  _ your  _ gardener, Kei. And Hitoka is friends with Shoyo! They play all the time.” Tadashi said with a smile. Kei rolled his eyes again.

“Hey, Noya.” Asahi said awkwardly to the man as he placed Hitoka down on the playmat where Shoyo was eating a bowl of blueberries. Hitoka looked especially cute today, her hair pulled into tiny pigtails atop her head, and a pink polka dotted dress and matching shoes. Asahi wondered for a second if a man as chaotic as Noya had enough patience to dress such a little girl in such a precious outfit, with a matching hair-do to boot.

“Asahi! Tell me Hitoka doesn’t look precious right now.” Noya said beaming at the little girl who was quietly sitting next to Shoyo who was exuberantly offering her handfuls of blueberries.

“She does.”

“Thank you very much. She is a model in the making. I just know it. She’ll probably be short like me, but I say with a precious face like that you can model even if you’re short.” 

“I would love to be her designer someday if she ever does become one.” Asahi said sweetly.

“Oh my god! That is perfect! Asahi you have a magnificent brain.” Noya said as he reached out and slapped Asahi on the arm. Asahi’s cheeks burned at the compliment even though it was a simple one. 

The party continued pretty much according to how it was planned. They had pizza, and watched as Shoyo smeared his small chocolate smash cake all over the table and his face. They cheered as he ate it with his hands, subsequently getting himself and everything else covered in chocolate too. After they wiped most of the residual chocolate off of Shoyo’s face, they let him open some of the presents. Not surprisingly, he squealed as he got to pull the mass amounts of tissue paper out of the brightly colored bag that Suga had prepared for him. Suga watched, with a huge smile as Shoyo basically shredded the paper, not even caring what was in the bag. 

Daichi sat with Shoyo on his lap helping him open the gifts from the other guests, until Suga handed them the gift that Noya had purchased for him. The gift was taller than Shoyo was, and it was wrapped poorly.

Daichi helped Shoyo open the package, revealing a large Nerf brand bow and arrow that shot foam darts. Suga and Daichi turned to where Noya was standing with a proud expression on his face.

“Eh, eh? What do you think? Isn’t it great?” Noya said, clenching his fists with excitement.

“Noya, he’s a baby.” Suga said, his eyebrow cocked, watching Shoyo fiddle with the plastic bow in front of him.

“Yeah, but he’ll grow into it! It reminded me of him!” Noya said with a smile. 

“Well… thank you Nishinoya, that was very thoughtful.” Daichi said, placing the gift on the floor. They finished off the party letting Shoyo open the rest of the presents, like the ones from Tadashi and Tobio that Suga had taken them to get a few days ago.

There weren’t many guests besides some of Daichi’s co-workers with younger children, but as they trickled out, it left the house empty, and messy, only the Sawamura clan, Kei, Nishinoya and Hitoka behind. 

While most of the remaining party members were cleaning up in the kitchen, Nishinoya and Asahi stayed behind in the living room cleaning up the aftermath of the present opening that had taken place earlier. They had insisted that Noya could leave, and that he shouldn’t feel obligated to help clean up, but Noya said that Hitoka and Shoyo were having an ‘important birthday conversation that mustn't be interrupted’ and that he had to stay until they were done talking. Asahi giggled at the explanation, wondering how Noya came up with such crazy comments. 

Asahi held open a plastic trash bag as Noya crumpled up balls of wrapping paper and attempted to shoot them into the bag like basketballs. It took them longer than picking up the room normally would have, but it was fun nonetheless. 

As Noya gathered up the last bit of tissue paper, he crossed the room to put it into the bag directly. 

“Hey, Asahi.” He said, a little quieter than usually. “What are you doing this weekend?”

Asahi froze for a second. He’s just making conversation…. Surely that’s all that’s about to happen.

“Nothing really… I don’t have any huge commissions to work on, so I’m not working for a while.”

“Oh so you’re free?”

“Y-yeah.” 

Oh my god, Asahi… what is going on? He had, what, maybe five or six playdates with Hitoka, and Noya had stayed and spent time with Asahi overseeing the two kids, but he just figured he was a caring and protective parent. Noya looked up at Asahi.

“Since you’re free this weekend, will you go out with me? Like, on a date?” He asked.    
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG... cliffhanger.... bruh....
> 
> I am so incredibly excited for the next chapter. It will probably be out within the next week or so... I already have most of it planned out because I am so excited to write it. 
> 
> Basically next time... a date???
> 
> Thank you so much for Erica for being my epic beta reader. But also if there are any typos, blame them on Erica not me. ;)
> 
> Never Grow Up - Taylor Swift


	9. Just the Right Kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> " You were just the right kind,
> 
> yeah, you were more than just a dream.
> 
> You were out of my league, got my heartbeat racing,
> 
> If I die, don't wake me, 
> 
> 'cause you are more than just a dream. "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This chapter is somehow simultaneously 100% filler, but also 100% plot/character development. I really like it though, and I hope you do too.

“A date?” Asahi’s mouth was practically wide open at the comment.

“Uh, yeah, I wasn’t sure if, you, uh swung that way, so I figured I would ask you... on a date…” Noya said, very uncharacteristically. He was acting so meek and nervous.

Asahi couldn’t help but smile seeing Noya act so far from confident, which was presumably his default. It was cute. To go along with that, his way of figuring out if Asahi was gay was to ask him on a date? He was far bolder than Asahi could ever imagine being… that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing though.

“Okay.” Asahi agreed, not quite sure where he found the confidence to do so. Perhaps the absence of Noya’s confidence had caused a spark in his own confidence. 

“Wait really?” Noya’s infectious smile made a spontaneous return.

“Yes. I would love to.” Asahi began to tie up the plastic garbage bag he was still holding.

“Oh my god. I was so worried, I thought you were going to turn me down.” Noya comically wiped sweat off of his forehead. “I figured you kept inviting us over for playdates because Shoyo liked Hitoka so much.” Asahi let out a big belly laugh.

“I thought you kept coming back because you thought Hitoka liked Shoyo so much. I didn’t realize that maybe you were feeling the same way I was.” Asahi’s shyness was returning slowly, and suddenly he found his cheeks growing pinker and pinker.

“No way. I mean, Hitoka and Shoyo are best friends, sure. But I was in it for myself. I'm a selfish father.” Noya flashed another devilish smile at Asahi, his once pink cheeks now turning brought red. “Don’t worry about any of the planning, I have it taken care of. Does Friday night sound good?”

“Sounds great.” Asahi smiled again before Noya offered a cheesy smile back. Neither of them could seem to stop smiling. 

“Great. Awesome.” Noya went to leave through the front door before stopping abruptly and turning around.

“Hitoka is in the kitchen.” Asahi reminded him.

“Hitoka's in the kitchen.” Noya repeated. “I definitely didn't forget my daughter.” Asahi chuckled as he followed Noya through the kitchen doorway. He picked up Hitoka and said goodbye to everyone else in the room, wishing Shoyo one last ‘happy birthday.’ Before leaving, he turned back one last time, locking eyes with Asahi. His gaze was so strong that subsequently, all of the other eyes in the room seemed as though they had landed upon him as well.

“Friday night.” Noya shot a pair of comical finger guns at Asahi before turning and exiting the kitchen. The Sawamura clan watched from the kitchen as Noya strapped his daughter into her carseat in the backseat of his dinky looking pickup truck before turning quickly out of the driveway.

As soon as his truck was out of view, all of the eyes in the room were once again on Asahi.

“What just happened in there? What is going on on Friday night?” Suga approached from across the room, ready to use force if Asahi didn’t answer the questions honestly.

“Nothing happened…” Asahi started until Suga smacked him on the arm. “Ouch, Suga stop. Fine, he asked me out.”

“On a date?” Daichi said from the sink where he was washing the forks they had eaten birthday cake with earlier. 

“No, on a mission.” Asashi rolled his eyes. “Yes, on a date.”

“When? Where? How did he do it?” Suga was practically tugging at Asahi’s shirt like a child. Asahi swatted him away.

“You just heard him say Friday night. And I don’t know where yet. And he just asked me… it’s not that big of a deal.” Asahi smiled a little remembering how flustered Noya had gotten when asking him out.

“Ah, ah! Look at that smile! Daichi! Look, look he’s smiling!” Suga started to bounce up and down. He would never outwardly admit it, but he sort of lived vicariously through Asahi since he came out when they were in high school.

“Awww, is he blushing?” Daichi rolled up the dish towel he was using and snapped it flicking Asahi in the back.

“Looks like he’s blushing to me.” Tadashi chimed in from the kitchen table.

“Oh, butt out, Tadashi.” Asahi said, only half-joking. Tadashi dissolved into maniacal giggles in his seat. “He got really nervous to ask, it was super cute.” Asahi finally admitted.

“Impossible. I don’t think Noya even knows what the word nervous means.” Daichi teased. 

“Well, he was nervous.” Asahi defended. “Turns out he kept coming back for playdates because of me, but I kept inviting them back for him, and both of us thought we were doing it for the kids.”

At that comment, Suga and Daichi’s faces lit up, both of them looking to the other.

“We knew it!” They said in unison. They both broke into a deep, loud laughter.

“We totally called it, Asahi.” Suga wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. “You guys had so many playdates in the past few weeks, oh we so called it Daichi.”

Asahi’s face was turning redder and redder.

“We didn't have  _ that _ many. They were for the kids too. We just watched Shoyo and Hitoka play. That’s it. You guys need to stop conspiring in my love life. You’re acting like teenagers.” Asahi folded his arms across his chest, his face still beet red.

“Suuuuure. It was for the kids… right Suga?” Daichi jokes. 

“Yup. You’re right, Daichi. For the kids!” Suga held up a fist in the air before Asahi jabbed him in the side. Suga giggled before returning the attack ten-fold.

“Suga, stop it please!” Asahi cried out as Suga showered him with quick jabs and punches.

“You have to reap what you sow, Asahi.” Daichi said, still laughing. When Suga finally relented, he was laughing again, as Asahi was practically folded over in self defense. “It’s a good thing you guys already got to know each other. It should make the first date less awkward.” Daichi commented from the sink, where he had returned to the dishes.

“Everything is awkward with Asahi.” Suga remarked as he took a seat next to Tadashi.

“Also true.” Daichi said.

“You guys are mean.” Asahi said, leaving to retreat to the basement.

“We know.” They said in unison as Asahi groaned, slamming the basement door behind him.

* * *

The week leading up to the highly anticipated date was far from calm. Daichi and Suga teased Asahi about it practically every waking minute. Both of them were incredibly excited for Asahi, but they showed their love through teasing… and they just really loved Asahi this week.

By the time Friday rolled around, Asahi was more excited for the teasing to stop than he was excited for the actual date. They had been so outward with their tormenting that even Tobio had picked up on it, making a few remarks to him about his “icky cootie date” on Friday.

Asahi watched on Friday morning as Daichi left for work, followed shortly by Suga who took Tobio and Tadashi to school, leaving him alone with Shoyo. He learned quickly that the teasing was a nice distraction, because in actuality, he was extraordinarily nervous for his date. He hadn’t been on a date in a few years. 

_ Oh God. Asahi what have you gotten yourself into? _ He thought as he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled out the device, the screen lighting up with a text from Nishinoya. His heart dropped into the pit of his stomach when he saw the name on the notification. He hurriedly unlocked his phone to read the entire text.

**Nishinoya:** hello asahi sir 

**Nishinoya:** i have a slight problem…

Asahi felt like he was going to throw up.  _ He was having second thoughts about the date… he’s going to lie and say he can’t go because he hates you and was leading you on. _ Asahi ran his fingers through his hair. He went to type an answer, but Noya beat him to it.

**Nishinoya:** can you drive tonight? old reliable bit the dust this morning. 

Asahi let out an enormous sigh. 

**Asahi:** Of course! Send me your address, and I can pick you up. What time?

**Nishinoya:** thank you :D 

He followed it up with another text with his address, along with vague directions on how to get there. They decided on meeting at five o’clock… Asahi turned back to see what time it was. The neon clock on the stove read 8:38 am. He groaned, slouching into a seat at the table.

Shoyo watched from his playpen near the table, mimicking the sound that Asahi had just released. Shoyo’s rendition of it sounded more like a roar than a groan, but it was cute enough to distract Asahi from his impending doom. 

He showered, he laid out his outfit, he cleaned his room… not like Noya would see it, but it’s still nice to come home to a clean room after a long night… would this be a long night? What did Noya have planned? What if he actually ends up hating Asahi and cuts the night short? 

He had to force his runaway train of thought to halt, because if he hadn’t it would have gone out of control and he probably would have cancelled his date entirely. 

The clock moved at a snail's pace, all day, minutes feeling like hours, passing as slow as possible. When four P.M. finally rolled around, the entire family, Asahi included, was stationed in the kitchen waiting to see him off for his date. Daichi tried to give him some ‘last minute words of courage” but in actuality he just made a snarky and borderline suggestive comment that went over Tadashi and Tobio’s heads. Asahi and Suga heard and fully understood, as Suga melted into an uncontrollable laughing fit, and Asahi buried his face in his hands, so that they wouldn’t be able to see the blush on his cheeks.  _ Daichi had a dirty mind… that was all, nothing of that sort would happen tonight… although it wouldn’t be unwanted if it came up _ …. Asahi bit the inside of his cheek.  _ It’s the first date with a man you’ve only had ‘play dates’ with, he reminded himself _ .  _ Don’t get your hopes up.  _

His saving grace was the alarm he had set on his phone that started blaring at 4:30. Was it too early to pick up Noya? Yes, probably. Was it soon enough to get away from Suga and Daichi’s teasing? Always. He waved behind him as he left through the door. Before he could leave, Tadashi and Tobio ran up behind him, squeezing his waist and leg in a big bear hug accordingly.

“Have fun, Asahi.” Tadashi said as he finally loosened his grip.

“Yeah, have fun on your cootie date.” Tobio said with a mischievous grin.

“Bye boys. I will have fun.” Asahi shot one last warning glare at Daichi and Suga, not like it would give them any less reason to tease him. They were relentless… and he loved them for it.

As he climbed into his prius, he thought back to a few years ago when he first bought the car. Daichi had teased him relentlessly (what a shocker) for it, and rightfully so… it was a silly looking car. He remembered pulling up to Daichi’s house in it for the first time, it was before he lost his sister, before Shoyo was even born, before they moved to their new house. Daichi was standing on the front porch with Tobio, who was only about 2 at the time. As soon as Daichi caught sight of the tiny car, with the less than tiny Asahi crammed into it, he burst into a fit of laughter. He turned back to the front door, calling Asahi’s sister outside to see her older brother in the tiny vehicle. She had a similar sense of humor to Daichi’s, so she got a similar kick out of the sight. She told him it was like seeing 10 clowns cramming into a clown car, but there was only one clown. He had been embarrassed, he thought he had made a smart, environmentally conscious decision, but Daichi never quite stopped teasing him for it.

But today, as he pulled in front of Noya’s apartment complex and watched him bound up to the passenger seat door, climbing in eagerly, it was almost as if the car was manufactured for him. He didn’t immediately greet Noya when he entered, as he was too busy revelling in how perfectly he fit in the seat next to him, like it was reserved for him and only him.

“Are you ready for this?” Noya said loudly, snapping Asahi out of his trance.

“Uh, yeah. I am.” He smiled, meeting the ever-eager gaze that Noya wore.

Nishinoya shouted out directions from the passenger seat, leading Asahi up and down plenty of streets that he was pretty sure weren’t actually in the route to get to their destination. Finally, after 20 minutes of a driving tour led by Noya, he instructed Asahi to pull into a gravel parking lot. There weren’t many signs on the building in the middle of the lot, just a neon sign, shaped like a bowling ball and three bowling pins. It flickered between the image of the pins standing and the pins falling. Asahi chuckled when he realized where they were. It was more than characteristic for Noya to take them to a place like this. It would be fun, regardless of where they were. Noya could make anything fun, Asahi was sure of that. 

Noya leapt out of the passenger seat of the car, and he scurried around to Asahi’s door. He flung the driver’s side door open, and goofily gestured Asahi to exit the car. Asahi climbed out of his seat, his shoulders shaking with laughter a bit. Noya proceeded with this ‘royal treatment’ as he held the double doors open for Asahi as they entered the bowling alley.

“You don’t have to hold the doors open like that.” Asahi said chuckled.

“Sure I do. I have to make a good impression. You’ve only ever seen me in dad mode, and work mode… this is date mode.” Noya gave a goofy bow.

Asahi thought back to these other modes of ‘Noya.’ In his mind, they weren’t too different than the Noya he saw today. When they first met, over the hedges in the backyard, his extroverted smile and charismatic personality shining brighter than the sun itself that day. Or when they had their five or six playdates with Shoyo and Hitoka. He wasn’t much different today than he was on those days, but the night was still young so perhaps he would come to prove Asahi wrong.

Upon entering the bowling alley, Asahi was hit with a rush of nostalgia. It had been years since he had been bowling… maybe since high school? But the inside of the local bowling alley had barely changed. The black patterned carpet, and the neon lights, the vague smell of grease. It was an unconventional date for people that weren’t in high school, but Noya was an unconventional person.

They approached the counter to exchange their shoes. Noya slipped off his sneakers. They were chunky, and looked like basketball shoes. He slid them across the counter acting friendly with the man assisting them, as if he was a regular in the bowling alley. Asahi followed suit and slipped off his Vans and handed them over the counter. 

The worker passed them their brightly colored velcro bowling shoes, sliding them across the counter. Noya marveled in how large Asahi’s shoes were before he spoke up.

“I know it looked like he grabbed these shoes from the kids sizes,” He held up his shoes. They were comically small, but he was a short man, so his shoes were understandably small. “But they’re not kids sized. They’re adult shoes.” Asahi laughed at the case he was making.

“That’s fine.” He stood up from bending over to velcro his shoes on. “Don’t tell him I told you this, but Suga wears Tadashi’s shoes sometimes. When he goes to run errands, he’ll slip them on. They fit him perfectly too.” 

Noya’s face lit up as Asahi entrusted him with the secret.

“Pfffft. I’m gonna tell him you told me that.” Asahi’s eyes grew wide.

“No! Please don’t, he’d kill me!” Asahi pleaded. Noya offered a sly smile back to him.

“I’m just yanking your chain.” He led Asahi down to the lane, the monitor above lit up with their names and blank scores. “I come here pretty often, so don’t be discouraged if I blow you out of the water.” Noya said playfully.

It took Asahi a while to pick out a bowling ball that he liked. Noya tried to help, but he kept picking ones that were almost 15 pounds, and Asahi struggled to lift them. Noya tried to discreetly grab his ball from the rack, trying to make sure Asahi couldn’t tell that it was a children’s ball. Asahi did notice, but he didn’t say anything about it… especially since he ended up choosing a bright pink sparkly ball that was probably a fan favorite amongst middle aged women. 

Right as Asahi was about to bowl his first frame, Noya disappeared from the table they had been stationed at. When Asahi turned around from his turn, he saw him leaning almost entirely over the snack counter. Although he was talking loudly to the cashier, Asahi couldn’t quite make out what he was saying. Noya snapped his head around and met Asahi’s eyes. He gave him a cheesy smile and two excited thumbs up. Asahi meekly returned the gesture, before sinking into his seat. He was a little disappointed. Noya had been up at the snack counter for almost 15 minutes, and Asahi couldn’t continue bowling until he came back. He did say that he came here often… he was probably friends with the workers.

Just as Asahi’s train of thought was about to derail, Noya appeared from seemingly out of nowhere. He was carrying a large pizza tray.

“Sorry about the wait.” He slid the pizza onto the table. “I wanted him to make the pizza in the shape of a heart, but the jerk said they couldn't ‘cause the pizzas came frozen.” Asahi’s shoulders relaxed. Noya wasn’t avoiding him, he was just heckling the teenage cashier… Asahi wasn’t sure if that was a better option.

“That’s sweet.” 

“Be right back!” Noya said without answering. He probably knew it was sweet… maybe he was embarrassed. 

He returned a few minutes later, this time carrying a plate of nachos. He set them down before immediately turning right back around with a “Be right back.” 

He made multiple more trips, bringing back soft pretzels, a funnel cake, and a plastic pitcher of beer before finally settling down in the seat across from Asahi.

“Tonight, we dine like kings.” Noya said biting into a slice of stringy cheese pizza. Asahi smiled. There was no denying there was a feast in front of them, whether it be traditional or not, there was enough bowling alley food there to feed a large family. 

“Thank you, Noya.” Asahi reached out and grabbed his own slice of pizza, being pleasantly surprised by the quality of the flavor.

The two of them sat at the table for quite a long time, practically forgetting about their bowling match. Two groups passed through the lane next to them, as they ate and talked, the two of them just catching up on times when they didn’t know each other, even though they both would probably say that they felt like they had known the other for their whole lives.

Noya found a way to make every single story interesting. And yet simultaneously, he was such an incredible listener. Asahi felt that sometimes when he spoke, he was overlooked by those around him, not by any fault of his own, he was just a soft spoken person. And although Noya chimed into his stories every once and awhile, he always listened attentively, like Asahi was retelling the most important story in the world. Asahi was realizing that the little crush that had developed for Noya was perhaps a little more than little. Noya made up for so many of the things that Asahi was lacking, and he couldn’t help but admire him because of that. 

By the time they had gotten back to bowling, they had downed about two and a half pitchers of cheap bowling alley beer, both of them feeling a little tipsy. That made the bowling more fun though, especially since the other lanes had been empty for a while and they were the only two left in the building. Noya tried out trick shots that were far from successful. He tried granny shots, spin shots, even bouncing the ball, which Asahi had to physically stop him before he put a dent in the floor. They were laughing like crazy, but they were the only ones there, so they didn’t bother in quieting down.

Asahi came to the realization that although Noya may have spent a lot of time at the bowling alley, he wasn’t very good at bowling. Half of his balls ended up in the gutter, even when they weren’t trick shots, and his aim was terrible, the ball almost always swerving out of the way of the pins. 

Asahi was a consistent bowler, even with a little bit of alcohol in his system. Noya cheered like crazy every time Asahi got even a single pin to fall. Even though they were alone, Asahi still blushed as Noya cheered for him… it was embarrassing… that didn’t mean he didn't like it though.

They finished after a few frames, both of them sore from laughing too much. They switched out their shoes, Noya opting to walk the rest of the way barefoot, even though Asahi begged him not to.

As they walked through the breezeway, Noya suddenly began to yell, before he eagerly pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. It took a second for Asahi to realize he had found a claw machine, that was filled to the brim with stuffed animals.

“I have to get one of these for Hitoka!” Noya said as he fed a dollar bill into the machine. “Pick some out for the boys and I’ll win them for them.” He said turning back to the machine.

“Noya, you don’t have to do that.” Asahi said as the claw fell into the pile of stuffed animals, before ascending, with nothing in it.

“Sure I do. Shoyo and I are already best friends, but I need to get to know Tobio and Tadashi better.” Noya said nonchalantly, without even looking away from the claw machine. 

Asahi took a step back. Noya had said it so casually, but for some reason it really struck a chord with Asahi. It had been one real date, sure, but the two had practically been seeing each other for almost two months now, and they had never once before today spoken of any sort of relationship between them. But with that comment, Asahi couldn’t help but feel that Noya was alluding to that. The thought of that would have scared Asahi normally, but for some reason, when he thought about a relationship with Noya…. He wasn’t scared. 

He was scared for the next thing he did, but for once, his heart decided to override the chaotic overthinking that went on in his head. As Noya moved the crane, Asahi took a step closer behind him, and wrapped his arms around him, placing his hands on Noya’s, making it a group effort to decide where the crane went. It was so silly. The two of them probably looked like the teenage couples that came to the same bowling alley on their first dates that stood and waited in the breezeway for their parents to pick them up. Asahi didn’t seem to mind how silly they may have looked though… Noya made him feel young, and it had been so long since he felt that way. He wanted to savor the feeling.

It took them a while to collect all the stuffed animals that they decided they wanted for the kids. A soft lamb for Hitoka, a bright yellow fish for Shoyo, a puppy for Tobio, and a striped cat for Tadashi. They even had a few accidental catches, so they got two extra stuffed animals that they would jokingly gift to Suga and Daichi the next day. Noya probably wasted about 40 dollars trying to win the toys.

The owners of the bowling alley practically had to kick them out of the breeze way, as they stumbled back out into the parking lot. They fell back into Asahi’s car, the mood shifting once they were inside.

“Uh, you just want me to take you home now?” Asahi said, his hands awkwardly gripping the steering wheel.

“I actually had one more thing planned… but we can take your car home first.” Noya said, a slight dash of mischief in his voice.

Asahi turned to look at Noya in the passenger seat, and Noya winked at him. Suddenly, Asahi’s grip on the steering wheel tightened and his mouth grew slightly dry, but he listened to Noya’s directions anyway.

They chatted lightly on the drive home, but for the most part, the ride home was just shared in comfortable silence. They pulled into the garage, before Asahi turned off the car.

“What’s the last thing planned?” Asahi said, not knowing what to expect from Noya at all.

“Come on! Get out of the car!” Noya leapt out of his seat. “I’m not gonna kill you.”

“Well, now that you’ve said that I feel like you’re going to.” Asahi said, but still obliging and following Noya into the backyard.

He watched from a few feet behind Noya as he unlatched the gate to the Tsukishima’s yard, and crossed into their lawn. Asahi stayed on the Sawamura side of the lawn.

“Are we allowed to be over there? It’s late.” Asahi was starting to get more nervous. This felt like trespassing.

“No! I’m really great friends with them, they said I can come over anytime,” Noya explained. Asahi nervously scanned the two yards. When his eyes fell back on Noya, he realized that he was stripping down to his underwear, and he now stood at the edge of their pool, in only his boxers. Asahi’s face immediately flushed with color. “Besides, I’m the one who would have to clean up any mess that we make.” 

He was right about that, and Asahi was sure he wouldn't lie about being able to use the pool. He did seem to have a pretty great relationship with Kei and Akiteru’s parents, and he was an extremely diligent worker. Perhaps in a lapse of judgement, Asahi joined Noya at the edge of the pool, and he peeled off his pants, kicked off his shoes, and tossed his shirt into the grass. With one final movement, he wrapped his arms around Noya, and plunged into the pool, his arms still latched tightly around Noya. 

As soon as they came back out from underwater, Noya was laughing like a madman. He swam away from Asahi before doing a few flips underwater, making sure to splash Asahi more than he needed to. Asahi flinched as the water drenched his face and hair. He splashed back, as Noya bobbed and weaved around the pool, dodging all of his attack efforts. 

Nishinoya swam around behind Asahi, and latched onto his back, dragging him down into the water. When they resurfaced, Asahi took a moment to wipe the water from his eyes. They had gotten turned around underwater somehow, and now Asahi was holding Noya, their eyes locked with one another's.

Asahi presumed that he was making the first move, but little did he know that Noya felt the same, so they both leaned in towards each other at the same time, sealing the gap between them with a kiss. When they pulled away, they both found the other with a large smile on his face. 

Without second thought, Asahi leaned back in, stealing another kiss, Noya more than happily obliging. By now, Noya’s ankles were latched behind Asahi’s back, as they shared kiss after kiss somewhere in the deep end of the pool. Each time they leaned back into each other, the kisses became longer and longer. After a few more kisses, Asahi pulled away, practically breathless.

“Do you want,” He paused to catch his breath from swimming, carrying Noya’s weight, and also from a little less than chaste kissing. “To go inside?” He asked, his intentions rather clear in the tone of his voice. 

Noya understood the message too, because as soon as he said it, he detached from Asahi’s torso, and lifted himself out of the pool. Asahi followed suit, before the two of them gathered up their wadded clothes and shoes, and ran through the yard, back through the gate into the Sawamura yard. Once they made it to the back porch, Asahi paused before unlocking the door. He turned back to Noya, leaning down for another kiss. Had Asahi been wearing a shirt, Noya would have grabbed the collar of it to make his lips meet his own a little faster, but instead he opted for pulling Asahi by the hip, until his back was pressed against the wall of the house, and Asahi was leaning down to catch his mouth in yet another kiss.

Asahi fumbled with the keys, eager to get inside. The door flung open, but as soon as Asahi took a step inside, he realized that Suga was standing in the kitchen, his back to the door, waiting for something to finish cooking in the microwave. 

Suga quickly glanced behind him when he heard the door open.

“Oh hey, Asahi. How was your date? You made it back just in time Daichi and I were just about to watch Star Wars. Wanna watch?” Suga started a conversation, still unaware of the state Asahi was in behind him. Suga opened the microwave and pulled out a bag of popcorn.

Asahi had stopped so abruptly that Noya slammed into his back when he crossed into the doorway. Suga turned around again at the thud their bodies made, to see Noya and Asahi standing, both in their underwear, dripping wet, their cheeks flushed, and noses and lips apparently red.

Suga’s eyes grew as wide as they could at the sight. He had to force himself to shut his mouth so as to not say anything that would embarrass Asahi.

“Nevermind. You guys can watch another movie with us some other time.” He turned to walk back into the living room. “Have fun down there guys.” He left the living room. Asahi wished he could cover his face with his hands, but he was holding his damp clothes. 

“Oh my god. He’s gonna tell Daichi.” Asahi said. He turned to Noya.

“Who cares?” Noya said, his clothes wadded up under his arm. Noya grabbed Asahi’s arm before opening the basement door and leading him behind him. As the door shut behind them, Noya’s clothes and shoes hit the floor with a thunk first, followed quickly in succession by Asahi’s own outfit. 

* * *

The next morning, Tadashi woke up with multiple texts on his iPad from Kei.

**Kei:** (11:47 P.M.) your uncle is in my pool.

**Kei:** (11:53 P.M.) he’s with my gardener.

Tadashi frowned.  _ No fair,  _ he thought to himself,  _ When Kei asked him to go swimming last week Daichi said no because he said it was too cold.  _

**Tadashi:** (9:08 A.M.) no fair! Why do they get to swim, but we don’t?????

Tadashi got ready for the day like usual, eventually making his way downstairs, to find his dad and Suga, along with Shoyo and Tobio in the kitchen.

He took a seat at the table, with a poptart and his iPad, ready to commence his favorite part of his morning routine. He sat at the table for a few minutes, before hearing the basement door open behind him. When all the eyes in the kitchen turned to the door, the figure they expected to see was not there. Rather than a sleepy looking Asahi at the top of the stairs, Noya stood in the doorway, dressed in a large t-shirt, presumably Asahi’s as it was much too large to be his own.

“Good morning!” He said casually. Asahi quickly appeared behind him, looking rather mortified.

“Good morning.” Daichi and Suga said in unison, the two of them exchanging curious glances. 

The group sat at the kitchen table, as they did most mornings they got the opportunity to. Even though there was a new member seated at the table with them, Noya managed to blend into the organized chaos that was seemingly perpetual in the Sawamura household

Asahi sighed. He was in for a teasing of a lifetime later… but for right now, he got to eat breakfast with Noya… his boyfriend? Maybe… he wasn’t quite sure… They were definitely something. Daichi and Suga could tease him all they wanted later, because as of right now, he was so happy that it didn’t even matter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am a DaiSuga stan first, human second... but wow, AsaNoya is so special to me... they are so good.
> 
> I hope you like this chapter, I'm gonna go ahead and answer any questions you might have,
> 
> 1\. Don't worry about Hitoka, she was staying with Noya's friends... I mentioned them a few chapters ago. Maybe we'll get to meet them soon?
> 
> 2\. Noya is a regular at the bowling alley. He is also terrible at bowling. Don't tell him that thought because he wouldn't believe you.
> 
> I wrote the crane game bit because I keep going back to a grocery store in my town to get Squishmallows out of their crane, but I can't seem to win one. I am above average at the actual game, but the one at this store is totally rigged. >:(
> 
> Next chapter: Volleyball!!!!!!! 
> 
> In a fic where all the characters come from a show about volleyball, we are finally going to play some volleyball.... who is going to do the playing though?
> 
> As always, thanks for reading, and thank you Erica for beta-reading the shit out of me. (In this draft I spelled simultaneously like simeultauneously... don't ask how all those letters got there, sometimes my fingers just move and I can't control what keys they press).
> 
> Out of My League - Fitz and The Tantrums

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading 
> 
> come bother me on tiktok @friendlyneighborhoodvic
> 
> check out my daisuga playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4LXaOXmMKbMpgZ8PLDBzZk?si=iEMbAhixTTCFgHgHNtZgpw


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